ALLIGATOR- SHOOTING IN FLORIDA. 



By Cyrus W. Butler. 



^ROM the day that Mother Eve was accused of the 

 questionable taste of being tempted by a serpent, 

 we have had for that order of Reptilia so little 

 interest, aside from fear and aversion, that this 

 dislike has not stopped with snakes, but has extended, in a 

 modified degree, to the entire reptilian class. It is but 

 natural, therefore, that of all classes of animal life, that of 

 Reptilia should afford the least attraction to the sports- 

 man; for, in addition to .this aversion, you can neither shoot 

 them on the wing nor angle for them with a split bamboo; 

 and, as a rule, its species are small, their capture void of 

 pleasure, and they are worthless when caught. 



But, thanks to the molecule whose differentiation first 

 started in its development the order Orocodilia, we have in 

 the United States two species, the Crocodile and Alligator, 

 whose size and ferocity are sufficient to interest the sports- 

 man and furnish employment for his best rifle. The sight 

 of the huge, glittering body, as it lies basking in the sun- 

 shine, may well cause his heart to beat as hard and his 

 breath to come as heavy as though a more beautiful and 

 useful game animal lay before him. 



The American Crocodile occurs only in South Florida, 

 and has never been taken in any great numbers. In the 

 winter of 1888 and 1889, Dr. J. W. Velie, of the Chicago 

 Academy of Sciences, secured twenty specimens on the 

 southwest coast of the State, the largest of which was 

 fifteen feet and six inches in length. 



The most distinguishing characteristic of this Crocodile, 

 as compared with the Alligator, is that the end of the jaws 

 are wider than they are farther back, so that a rope can be 



C549) 



