AS TO ALLIGATORS. 



The alligator generally impresses tiie 

 mind as a reptile so dangerous that he 

 should be given a wide berth on any and 

 all occasions, yet it is really peaceable and 

 harmless unless aroused to the defen- 

 sive. 



Anywhere south of the Mason and 

 Dixon line, among the rivers, lakes and 

 marshes, are found the alligators, but 

 Florida, because of its great area of such 

 places which the alligator delights in, 

 may almost be termed the home of the 

 alligator. 



In traveling through the dense ham- 

 mocks, where for miles and miles the sun 

 scarcely penetrates through the heavy 

 timber and the rank vegetation beneath, 

 one may often meet with the huge sai^ 

 rian as he travels from one cave or mud 

 hole to another. Tease or wound him, 

 and he will show fight, and woe to him 

 who then comes within reach of his 

 vengeance. And it matters little to him 

 with which end he must fight. He can 

 crush equally well with his tail as with 

 his jaws — or, to end the matter more 

 speedily, he may use both. But if you 

 go on about your business his 'gator- 

 ship will do the same, and not notice 

 you so much as ever to wink. Come upon 

 him as he is lying asleep or sunning him- 

 self on a mud bank, if he is aroused and 

 finds you between himself and the river 

 he will sweep you aside as you yourself 

 would a fly from the sugar bowl, and 

 then slide into his native element, and 

 he does this so quickly as to allow you 

 little time to explain that you just hap- 

 pened there and had no designs on him 

 whatever. 



At other times you might think you are 

 stepping out onto a sunken log imbedded 

 in the mud, but find that the log sud- 

 denly gets very much alive, for under 

 that slimy mud and grass an alligator 

 was taking a sitz bath. You might have 

 walked all around him with impunity, 

 but walking on him is an indignity he 

 resents quickly — so quickly that it is a 

 question whether you get back to safety 



or are served up for the alligator's din- 

 ner. Sometimes you may see an alligator 

 lying motionless just under the surface 

 of the water, with his long snout protrud- 

 ing. His jaws are open far enough to 

 allow the flow of the current through 

 them, and when a stray fish or other 

 tid-bit comes along with that flow, the 

 jaws snap down on it. He can be seen 

 keeping his trap thus set for hours at ^ 

 time. Should you row near in order to 

 watch him, he will not seem to pay the 

 least attention to you if you behave your- 

 self ; but if you drop an oar or shout at 

 him he will drop down out of sight and 

 lie low waiting to see what you are reallv 

 up to. Now, if you will remain perfectly 

 quiet as to motion, but will imitate the 

 barking of a puppy, the squealing of a 

 pig, or the caw of a crow, although there 

 was not an alligator in sight, you will 

 soon see several snouts appear, and grad- 

 ually, if you keep up the call, the alli- 

 gators will come near and nearer, in 

 curiosity as to what the call means. A 

 half dozen or more will be nosing about 

 the boat, and you have a good chance to 

 observe them closely — if your nerves can 

 stand it. This sport is exceedingly dan- 

 gerous, for if the boat should bump an 

 alligator on the nose, straightway all 

 would make common cause and reduce 

 the offending boat into splinters ; and that 

 the occupant of the boat should escape 

 would be next to impossible. 



When the female alligator wishes to 

 build her nest, she selects a dry place, 

 open to the rays of the sun, yet near to 

 v/ater. She commences her nest by scrap- 

 ing together a lot of dry leaves, grass or 

 other trash, until she has a round, com- 

 pact bed as large as a cartwheel. On this 

 she deposits her eggs. This done, she 

 proceeds to cover them up by going 

 round and round the nest and, with her 

 body pushing more leaves and trash over 

 the eggs. A well made nest is of the 

 shape of a hay-cock, and very nearly so 

 large. The nest completed, the alligator 

 goes off to the nearby water, and leaves 

 the sun to do the hatching. Many differ 



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