104 THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 



stomach of these alligators and is of considerable interest 

 in determining their destructiveness. 



It is interesting here to note that on October 3, 1921, I 

 caught the female I had liberated and put her in the pen 

 with the male with whom she had been mated, for the 

 Winter, as I had gotten a large male and put him in her 

 pen during the time she was at liberty. The morning after 

 she was put in with her mate she was found dead. He had 

 killed her during the night. An examination showed he 

 had caught her across the body just back of the front legs 

 in his jaws and squeezed her to death. A few days after 

 the female death I was much surprised to see twenty-eight 

 of her young ones in the pen with an eleven and one-half 

 foot male. These little fellows stayed with this big alli- 

 gator all Winter. It was amusing to see them on warm, 

 sunny days basking in the sun on top of his back, and often 

 on top of his head. They went into his den in cold weather 

 and he made no attempt to harm them ; but they left him in 

 the Spring before he began to eat. 



