SAURIAN SHOOTERS. 



J. Mortimer Murphy. 



The low price now being paid for 

 alligator hides has caused many 

 an old alligator hunter in Florida 

 to seek some better means of livelihood, 

 and to mourn the day that saurian goods 

 lost their ultra-fashionable character. 



Pelts which formerly sold for sums 

 ranging from fifty cents to two dollars, 

 are now worth only twenty- five cents, 

 and teeth which brought from two to 

 ten dollars a pound are, at present, 

 rarely called for, owing to the taste for 

 " alligator jewelry " having almost died 

 out. The result in Florida is the dis- 

 appearance of a class of nomads who had 

 no prototypes elsewhere on this planet, 

 and who led as lonely, dismal and arduous 

 an existence as any people on the con- 

 tinent. Their occupation developed 

 none the qualities peculiar to the hunt- 

 ers and trappers of the western frontier, 

 except patience and perseverance, for 

 an accurate eye, steady nerves, ability 

 to walk and climb, and to study savage 

 man and beast were not much called 

 for. Even woodcraft was not necessary, 

 as they only traversed forests in boats 

 or primitive carts. 



Most of the 'gator hunters were 

 natives of Florida, and therefore well 

 acquainted with the haunts and habits 

 of their prey, for one rarely lived far 

 from the other. The hunting season 

 lasted from March to November 

 or December, in South Florida, because 

 the alligators in this region seldom begin 

 hibernating before the end of the year, 

 unless the weather turns unusually cold. 

 They reappear at intervals during the 

 winter, some coming out of their dens 

 every ten days. 



Their periodical appearance gives the 

 hunters acquainted with their haunts 

 excellent opportunities for slaying them, 

 as they rarely go far from their retreats, 

 and retire as soon as the day begins to 

 cool. Most of the saurians cease their 

 winter's sleep as soon as spring is fairly 

 open, but they do not get very active 

 until warm days are assured. In former 

 years the hunters commenced operations 

 about April, and continued the slaughter 



while the animal could be found above 

 ground. 



The men who hunted in districts not 

 far from their farms usually planted a 

 patch of corn and sweet potatoes to 

 supply the house with food, but de- 

 pended on " 'gators " as their money 

 crop, one that was always sure. Two 

 men generally hunted together, yet it 

 was not rare to see a tali, thin, sallow- 

 skinned individual, dressed in the most 

 primative kind of costume, working alone 

 and doing fairly well under trying cir- 

 cumstances. 



I have seen this type patiently watch- 

 ing near an alligator's nest and robbing 

 it hurriedly when the female went off on 

 a foraging expedition for a short time. 

 This sort of robbery demands haste, for 

 if the despoiled parent discovered him 

 engaged in it she would charge him as 

 fearlessly as an angry hornet and would 

 fight more furiously than the fiercest 

 araazon of Dahomey, until she was dis- 

 abled or killed. I never knew one to 

 retreat from such a contest, all her atten- 

 tion being so devoted to revenge that 

 her own safety never entered her head. 



Should the hunter be successful in 

 robbing the nest — and he usually is — he 

 earns more money in a few moments 

 than he could in a week or more at 

 farming, for each egg is worth from five 

 to ten cents in town, and it is a poor 

 nest that does not contain from 60 to 

 100 eggs. These are as large as the 

 eggs of a goose, white, coarse grained, 

 slightly musky in odor, and so hard that 

 they can be rolled along the ground 

 without breaking. 



Several nests are sometimes found to- 

 gether, and they, at a distance, look like 

 the domiciles of dwarfs, on account ol 

 their regularity of outline and height, 

 some being over two feet high. 



They are jealously guarded by the 

 females, which usually lie in wait close 

 by, for they are well aware that the 

 males, birds of prey, and some snakes 

 would despoil them if they did not 

 fear the consequences. I have known 

 an alligator hunter to earn $50 in a 



