72 



HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



shot him in a small creek near Card Sound, in the spring of 1895, 

 and saw another at that time which I feel certain was at least two 

 feet longer than his companion. 



x\n old hunter by the name of William Freeman told me he saw a 

 crocodile in a shallow creek near Card Sound, and, as he could see 

 the animal perfectly, tried to form an approximate idea of its length 



by pacing the bank 



!#■■ I TnPSi^^^^S^^^^^ '^^ ^^^^ creek par- 



^ i H W '"*^T-. "f^'^Sm allel with the croc- 



odile. He stated 

 that he believed 

 this crocodile 

 xN'ould measure at 

 least nineteen feet. 

 Such estimates are 



CROCODII.Ii. . 



o f comparatively 

 little value except to show that there are larger crocodiles in South 

 Florida than have as yet been killed : and it is fair to assume that 

 there are crocodiles in Florida to-day which will measure seventeen 

 feet or more in length. The skin is not as dark as that of an alli- 

 gator, being slightly variegated, lighter and darker in places, and 

 the animal when asleep on the bank appears to be clay colored, 

 rather than black, as in the case of the alHgator. The large one 

 which I killed looked ashy gray as he lay on the bank about fifty 

 vards from me. 



