38 The Alligator and Its Allies 
the dispositions of the Florida alligator and croco- 
dile. While an alligator may snap its jaws, hiss, 
and swing its tail from side to side, it is not difficult 
_ for a couple of men with ropes and a pole to safely 
tie up alarge specimen. The struggles of a croco- 
dile are of a more serious nature. Ditmars thus 
describes an encounter with a captive Florida 
crocodile: ‘‘The writer well remembers ‘his first 
acquaintance with a big fellow from Florida. 
Driven out of the crate the crocodile looked the 
picture of good nature. Standing away from what 
he thought to be the reach of his tail, the writer 
prodded the apparently sluggish brute with a 
stick to start it for the tank. Several things hap- 
pened in quick order. With a crescentic twist of 
the body utterly beyond the power of an alligator, 
the brute dashed its tail at the writer, landing him 
such a powerful blow that he was lifted completely 
from the ground. As he left terra firma, an almost 
involuntary inclination caused him to hurl his 
body away from a pair of widely-gaping, tooth- 
studded jaws swinging perilously near. Landing 
with a thud on one shoulder, though otherwise 
unhurt, the writer threw himself over and over, 
rolling from the dangerous brute that was actually 
pursuing him on the run, body raised high from 
the ground. For an instant it seemed as if the 
crocodile would win. As the writer sprang to his 
feet and glanced backward, he beheld the brute 
throw itself flat on its belly, open the jaws widely, 
