66 



HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



One often hears marvelous stories regarding the size of alligators 

 killed by this or that hunter ; but I do not believe that there exists 

 to-day in Florida an alligator which will actually measure seven- 

 teen feet in length. The head of an alligator killed on the St. 

 Sebastian River in 1893, purchased by Mr. W. V. Rhoads, of 

 Rockledge, Florida, is so much larger than any specimens I have 

 ever seen that I did not for a moment discredit his statement that 

 the animal measured when killed a trifle over sixteen feet in 

 length. 



The alligator lays its eggs in the sand, where they are hatched by 

 the heat of the sun, and the young alligators then collect in some 

 small hole where the mother keeps watch over them. The piping, 

 or grunting, as it is called, of the young alligator somewhat resem- 

 bles the piping call of a hen turkey. It is imitated by the "skin 

 hunter," who is usually able to call to the surface almost any old 

 alligator which may be lying within hearing distance. I have 



seen John Davis repeatedly call 



,^-^ ^«. - ^, ^ allip^ators to the surface of small 



'/ f' .' " -^f-^ ^ t^' ^UH' ponds wdiere there was no sign 



of one when we arrived. After 

 two or three grunts, as it is termed 

 (although the call does not re- 

 semble a grunt at all), one or 

 more alligators would rise to the 

 surface and lay looking at us for 

 a moment. The hunter has to shoot quickly under these circum- 

 stances, as the alligator soon discovers the deception and will not 

 come up a second time for an}- amount of grunting. The little alli- 

 gators may be called to the surface in a similar manner and caught 

 by hand or a small dip net. I have man}- times caught dozens of 

 them in this manner by simply leaning over the edge of a bank 

 under which were a large number of young alligators and " grunt- 

 ing " them to the surface, where the}' were seized and placed in a 

 box, until nearlv all of them had been captured. An alligator 

 under fifteen inches is comparatively safe to handle, as their teeth 



