200 WILD ANIMAL CELEBRITIES 



phlegmatic tortoise of nearly four centuries 

 of age, and yet there are so many incidents in 

 connection with every living creature, if one 

 could only get hold of them, that many good 

 stories could be told about them. An alligator 

 is not beautiful or graceful or even fairly in- 

 telligent, and yet no doubt all have histories 

 of their own of some kind or other. 



One alligator whom I knew personally very 

 well, although he did not have the courtesy 

 to even acknowledge my presence in any way, 

 was the well known alligator in the New York 

 Zoological Park, that reached the length of 

 thirteen feet, and was familiarly called "Old 

 Mose. ' ' He certainly had an individuality of 

 his own, for of all villainous old bullies, Old 

 Mose was certainly one of the greatest. 



According to hearsay, he apparently always 

 had been a bully, from his earliest youth, 

 which he spent in the Indian River, Florida, 

 to some few years ago, when a severe and 

 painful lesson altered his ways and behavior. 

 It was always easy to recognize Old Mose 

 apart from his size, for he had lost a large 



