262 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 3fi, 1886. 



DAYS AMOf.G THE ALLIGATORS. 



ON one occasion, while hunting on Lake Bisteneau, in 

 Louisiana, I was returning through the woods by a 

 dim path that led by a small spring of water. The spring 

 was located half a mile from the lake, in a small ravine, on 

 the slope of a hillside and about three hundred yards from 

 where the drainage of the spring, scarcely perceptible in the 

 dry season, emptied into a small and sluggish bayou that 

 flowed into the lake. I was thirsty, and the only drinkable 

 water to be had was to be found in the little spring in ques- 

 tion. Many a time had its grateful waters quenched my 

 thirst when returning from a hard day's hunting or fishing 

 on the lake. It was in a secluded spot and but few people 

 ever visited the place. 



Often 1 had noticed, a little to one side and just above the 

 spring, in a small drain formed by an inequality of the hill- 

 side, two small poois of water that never seemed to go dry, 

 even in the drouth of summer. They were about twenty feet 

 long, about three feet wide, and apparently only a few inches 

 deep. Thpy were about fifteen or twenty feet apait, with 

 apparently no connection, as no water flowed from either, 

 and from casual observation I supposed they were formed 

 by the drainage water after a rain collecting and standing in 

 two shallow pools. I had taken them for two innocent hog 

 wallows, where I supposed the swine in the woods were ac- 

 customed to regale themselves in summer weather, in the 

 mud and water. I had passed there dozens of times and 

 never ouce suspected that danger lurked in those innocent 

 looking holes of water. I afterward learned that it would 

 have been anything but healthy for a hog or a dog to have 

 made a bathing place of these little pools. 



As I approached, riding, I had to pass these pools before 

 I reached the spring, about thirty steps beyond. When 

 about, twenty yards from the upper and deeper hole, which 

 had banks about a foot high, my attention was attracted by 

 something dropping from the banks into the water. Look- 

 ing that way, I thought I had never seen so many snakes in 

 one place in my life. The banks and the water seemed full 

 of them. I immediately dismounted and began an investi- 

 gation of the matter. By this time all had tumbled into the 

 water and many of them were still visible swimming about. 

 On approaching the bank what was my astonishment on 

 discovering that what I supposed were snakes were in 

 reality a brood of young alligators, many of them whining 

 like young puppies. On my approach, however, they rapid- 

 ly disappeared in the most mysterious manner, and it was 

 with difficulty that I captured one of the little rascals before 

 all the rest were gone, 1 could not tell where. The one I 

 caught was about fourteen inches long, and as vicious for 

 his size as any venomous reptile ever dared to be. If I put 

 a stick close to his head he would snap at it, and once get- 

 ting a hold, I could almost make a whip cracker of him 

 b3fore he would turn loose. 



I could not understand" the sudden disappearance of the 

 others, as I at first supposed I could catch the whole brood. 

 To investigate the matter 1 got a stick and commenced to 

 poke it all around in the water and under the edges of the 

 banks wherever I thought one could hide. In doing this I 

 could stand with one foot on each bank. Suddenly as I was 

 feeling about with the stick under the bank on one side my 

 stick failed to touch bottom. I reached as far as I could 

 and still did not touch bottom. To say I was surprised is 

 putting it mildly, I got a. longer stick, and still could not 

 touch bottom. I shot it into the hole, with a plunge. It 

 went out of sight— I was amazed. I then began an inspec- 

 tion of the surroundings. Just out on the hank was a lot of 

 old rubbish composed of twigs and leaves, etc. On going to 

 the lower hole of water I discovered a fresh track of a large 

 alligator coming up from the direction of the bayou and en- 

 tering the pool. The pool had no steep banks at all and I 

 had no idea from its appearance it was anything but a com- 

 mon hog wallow with mud and water lour or five inches 

 deep, at most. What puzzled me now was I could find no 

 trace of the alligator coming out of the hole. I examined 

 carefully the soft ground around the margin of the water 

 and it was very evident he had not come out. Anybody 

 could see very plainly he had gone in there and only a short 

 time before. It was equally evident he was in there then. 

 Where was he was the question. The mysterious deep hole 

 under the bank in the upper pool gave me a clue, and getting 

 4 a long pole 1 commenced feeling about in the water which 

 was not over four or five inches deep but too muddy to see 

 the bottom. Suddenly my pole went down, as it had before 

 in the other hole. A further investigation showed that this 

 waB an alligator's den. He had burrowed just below the 

 surface of the water around under the bank from one hole 

 to the other. How he ever kept these holes filled with 

 water in a porous soil, and on the slope of a hill, is a ques- 

 tion I have never been able to solve. I learned afterward 

 that an alligator had nested in that place for many years. 

 About the same time, I was hunting one day on Brushy 

 Bayou, a small stream that flows into Lake Bisteneau, 

 about seven or eight miles above this place, when I heard 

 what seemed to be the whining of a young puppy in the 

 dense and tangled growth of vines, bushes and trees that 

 bordered the stream. On making my way cautiously in to 

 the banks of the bayou a huge alligator rolled off of a log 

 that spanned the stream and fell with a great splash into the 

 water. Approaching nearer I discovered that the whining 

 noise proceeded from a brood of young alligators that lay 

 around the mouth of their den. This consisted of a hole 

 about the size of the mouth of a large barrel that had been 

 burrowed in the earth just above the edge of the water in 

 the bayou. This hole was full of water to the top, and the 

 young alligators, on the first intimation or danger, sought 

 and found protection in its mysterious depths. 



My first experience in shooting alligators was as follows: 

 Happening to be hunting with two boys as my companions 

 on the lake during the period of high water, we discovered 

 an alligator floating on the water about one hundred yards 

 from the bank. I had a short double gun, one barrel a rifle 

 that carried a large ball for shooting deer. We concluded 

 to try to capture the alligator, and getting into a small boat 

 we rowed out for an interview. Tbe saurian was unlike the 

 politician of the present day and seemed determined not to 

 be interviewed. Every time we attempted to approach him 

 he would move off so as to keep at a safe distance. When 

 floating on the surface they expose above the water their 

 eyes which are set in a small elevation on the front part of 

 the skull, the tip of the nose, and the top of the head from 

 the eyes back. These are carried about an inch above the 

 water. Some old ones expose portions of the back and 

 tail while swimming on the surface. The one in question, 



whenever we got nearer than he thought conducive to his 

 safety, would lower himself under the water and come up 

 again in a short time further off. After making several in- 

 effectual attempts to get near enough for a shod adopted a 

 strategy that worked finely. Paddling the boat toward him 

 until he went under, we rowed rapidly some distance 

 beyond where he was last seen and remained quiet, with 

 rifle cocked and ready. I had heard they could only be 

 killed by a shot in the eye and I wanted to be near enough 

 to hit that organ. We had waited but a few minutes before 

 he rose to the surface, in thirty yards of the boat, and just 

 where I was looking for him. Before he could get his head 

 under again I fired at his eye. He was lying broadside to 

 me. In an instant there was a wild commotion and churn- 

 ing of the water into foam. In a few moments he ceased 

 his contortions, and sank quietly to the bottom. Approach- 

 ing the place we could discover air bubbles rising rapidly 

 from the water over the place where he lay. There was in 

 the boat a stout fish gig used for gigging the huge buffalo 

 fish that were found in great numbers in the lake. It had 

 three strong barbed iron prongs and a stout handle about 

 ten feet in length. With this 1 felt about od the bottom 

 until I touched the body of the alligator. The water was 

 about eight feet deep. He did not move when I touched 

 him and I supposed he was dead. Raising the gig above 

 him I brought it down with all my might and felt that I 

 had sent it home. A moment later and I was sorry I had. 

 He was not dead by great odds. He made a tremendous 

 lurch and I soon discovered I was in a very embarrassing 

 predicament. It became at once a serious question whether 

 it was best to turn him loose or hold on to him. I was 

 afraid to turn him loose for fear he would in his contortions 

 upset the boat. To hold on to him was no easy matter. I 

 finally lifted him from the bottom and held him midway 

 between the bottom of the lake and the boat. Fortunately 

 he soon ceased his struggles, but not until my hand was 

 blistered in holding the handle of the gig. We succeeded in 

 towing him to the bank and found that the rifle ball had 

 struck him in the eye, and ploughing through from side to 

 side, had put out the other eye also. He was still not dead, 

 but made no further resistance. 



Some four or five miles down the lake from this place 

 was a wide deep hole even during the low stages of the 

 water. The hole was about half or three quarters of a mile 

 long and was a great plac*e for alligators. In the summer 

 they could be seen basking ia the sun, almost any day, 

 stretched out upon logs or in the mud along the banks, or 

 floating lazily upon the water. There was the hull of an 

 old sunken steamboat that lay midway the lake, and this 

 formed the favorite lounging place of a rusty looking old 

 fellow who was in the habit of crawling up on it for his 

 midday nap. I was riding down the lake one bright day 

 and discovered this old fellow lying in his favorite place on 

 the hull of the boat. He was a wily old dog and always 

 slept with one eye open. As soon as he discovered any- 

 one approaching, off into the water he would roll. The boat 

 was about 80 or 100 yards from the bank. A cluster of 

 cypress trees stood on the bank. I was on the lookout for 

 him, and as soon as I saw he was on the boat, I dismounted 

 and crept along behind the cypress trees until I got to the 

 tree nearest the bank. He was all unconscious of my pres- 

 ence. 1 had a small muzzleloading rifle. Taking aim at 

 his body just below the shoulders, I fired. He was the 

 most completely surprised alligator I ever saw. He rolled 

 off the boat and into the water with a splash, and not know- 

 ing the direction of his unseen enemy he struck out in a bee 

 line to the "very place where I was standing, in a manner as 

 if he thought that boat was filled with dynamite and tbe 

 whole thing would blow up in about two minutes. I con- 

 cluded the old fellow had taken offense at my unceremonious 

 interruption of his nap and was coming to demand an ex- 

 planation, and I turned to look after my horse about that 

 time. The saurian did not want me, however, and as soon 

 as he saw me he changed his course and started for tbe 

 other bank in a double quick gait. 



After this, I had some good sport hunting them at this 

 place. I had heard much of their dangerous character, and 

 of the impenetrability of their hides to shot, and of the 

 impossibility of killing them unless shot in the eye. I found 

 all of this the sheerest nonsense. I found them about as 

 timid and as hard to approach as any wild game I ever 

 hunted. I could rarely ever get within one hundred yards 

 of one, if he saw me. I killed several ten feet and upward 

 in length with one shot from a squirrel rifle, and killed them 

 so instantaneously that they would turn belly up and sink 

 without the least struggle. The place to shoot them is just 

 back of the eye from one to three inches. This part is ex- 

 posed, and offers |the best target, while they are swimming 

 ©n the surface, or floating, and if you can get a plunging 

 shot from above them, and hit them here, they are very 

 easily killed. The frontal bone extending from the nose, or 

 snout, back over the top of the head is very hard and forms 

 almost a perfect shield against ordinary rifle shot fired fiom 

 in front of them. The ball striking this will be almost sure 

 to glance and leave the alligator unharmed. 



I had several times noticed an unusually large one in my 

 trips to the lake that, in swimming on the surface, exposed 

 almost the entire length of his body above the surface of 

 the water. He was so wary that 1 had found it impossible 

 to get in rifle shot of him. I bad only an old-fashioned 

 squirrel rifle. Every time he caught sight of me, if two 

 hundred yards away, he would move off to safer quarters. 

 I determined to get him if possible, and arranged a drive for 

 him. Taking my stand cautiously on a point of laud and 

 behind a large cypress tree, on the bank of' the lake, about 

 three hundred yards below where I saw the old fellow float- 

 ing on the water, I sent a negro man, whom 1 had taken 

 along for the purpose, in a boat several hundred yards above 

 him, with instructions to approach him very slowly and 

 carefully from a point opposite to the place where I stood. 

 As soon as the alligator discovered the negro approaching in 

 the boat, just as I expected he would, he began to move in 

 my direction. He seemingly suspected the trap set for 

 him, however, for he soon got in the middle of the lake, 

 which was about two hundred yards wide at the place, and 

 putting on a full head of steam came down the lake like a 

 young steamboat. When he got opposite to me I fired, 

 and he quietly sank under the water. I was satisfied I had 

 not hurt him, and yet, from the fact that the ball did not 

 strike the water, I felt confident I had hit him. The bank 

 here was high and tolerably steep with a number of old 

 cypress trees standing on the slope. I had a companion 

 with me, and we selected a place about half way up the 

 bank and sat down on a log to eat our lunch. We were 

 screened from the lake by the trunks of two or three large 

 trees. Immediately below us the water was deep and it was 

 a favorite place for alligators to float. The weather Waa 



warm and I suppose we had been sitting there an hour 

 when I cautiously looked around the tree behind which I 

 sat, when there, not thirty yards off, right below us, lay the 

 big alligator we were after, quietly floating on the water. 

 With a motion to my companion to keep quiet, I cautiously 

 raised my rifle, and passing the muzzle past the tree, took 

 deliberate aim at his head just back of the eye, and in an 

 instant more the clear ring of the rifle reverberated over the 

 lake. When the smoke cleared away we saw this huge 

 monster turn slowly over on his back and with a shiver 

 sink quietly out of sight. With the aid of a long handled 

 gig, we succeeded in raising his body to the surface and 

 dragging him to the bauk. An examination showed that 

 my first shot had struck him on the frontal bone, in front of 

 the eye, and glanced harmlessly off. A short time after 

 this, I was hunting alligators on the lake near where I had 

 killed the big fellow above. The neero was paddling the 

 boat and I was sitting forward with rifle in hand. I dis- 

 covered a large one floating, and directing the negro to 

 paddle slowly and cautiously toward him, I succeeded in 

 getting a long shot at him. The ball struck him in the eye, 

 and for a time he made things lively. Reloading my rifle as 

 hastily as I could, I made the negro paddle the boat to the 

 place where he was cavorting about in the water, blinded 

 and enraged by the first shot, and succeeded by standing up 

 iu the boat in getting a plunging shot at his head as he 

 passed. The ball entered the fatal spot behind the eye, pene- 

 trated the brain, and the monster sank to the bottom dead, 

 without another struggle. 



This was during the war, at which time the great scarcity 

 of leather and of tanner's oil, in the South, made their hides 

 and oil very valuable. Whenever I killed a large one, my 

 friend, at whose house I was stopping, would have the 

 carcass hauled to the house and skinned and the fat con- 

 verted into oil, which he found useful for many purposes. 



On skinning tfle last one mentioned above, 1 discovered 

 that he was the same one I had shot while basking in the 

 sun on the hull of the sunken steamboat. He was lying at 

 the time with his side to me and 1 attempted to shoot him 

 behind the shoulder, in the region of the heart, but he had 

 his fore leg stretched out beside him, and the ball buried 

 itself in this, near the elbow joint, whence I recovered it. 



One peculiarity of alligators is their power of emitting a 

 powerful, musky odor. I never noticed this except when 

 one was killed. Whenever I killed a large one and ap- 

 proached the spot where he sunk, the air and water seemed 

 rilled with this strong, pungent odor. H. E. Jones. 



Nashville, Term. 



THE AUDUBON SOCIETY. 



THE career of the Audubon Society during the past 

 week has been one of steady and gratifying progress. 

 Additional secretaries have been appointed, and those already 

 at work have been steadily increasing their membership. 

 Many of our branch societies have been organizing their forces 

 for the directing of public attention to the movement, the 

 clergy have responded warmly to the appeal for co-operation 

 wheiever called on, and many effective sermons have been 

 preached, which generally had the effect of startling a num- 

 ber of the fair hearers with a sense of the enormity of the 

 practice, to the consequences of which they had never before 

 given a passing thought. 



The Educational Department has in some instances exhib- 

 ited a considerable interest in the movement, and a few 

 schools have been canvassed ; in all cases with results indi- 

 cating that the pupils were very generally impressed with 

 the presentation of the case. Mr. Comstock, principal of the 

 LeRoy Academic Institute, this State, heads the weekly list 

 with a contribution of a hundred and twenty-six members, 

 mostly pupils. Certificates of membership have been issued 

 at an average rate of two hundred daily, and being really 

 artistically executed, promise to become not only an evi- 

 dence, but an element of success. Compensation for self- 

 denial is found in tne artistic evidence of it. With the more 

 advanced students of our colleges a different, but equally 

 suitable, course has been adopted ; attention has been directed 

 to the fashion of wearing stuffed bird skins for personal 

 adornment, and to the Audubon movement for its subver- 

 sion, and the students instructed to study the problem, 

 and make it the subject of competitive themes or commence- 

 ment orations. Inquiries instituted at millinery establishments 

 confirms the view, that the almost total absence of small 

 bird plumage is due to a change of sentiment on the part of 

 their customers. There is a general unanimity of assertion 

 that their purchases for the approaching season exhibit 

 great falling off in comparison with past seasons. We hear, 

 too, of orders given in ignorance of the movement, which 

 have since been countermanded. In the smaller towns the 

 milliners have been interviewing the Audubon secretaries 

 and displaying a lively interest in ascertaining what ladies 

 have joined the Society. These are results affording ample 

 evidence of the general interest aroused by the movement, 

 wherever it has spread; and there is every ground to hope that 

 as branch societies perfect their organization and are able to 

 concentrate as much effort on individual cities, as the Soci- 

 ety is now spreading over the whole nation, success will fol- 

 low in an ever accelerated ratio. The best people of the 

 land lend the movement their earnest advocacy, and what is 

 perhaps as much to the purpose, thousands of women of 

 prominent soccial position who would not discard the fash- 

 ion from principle or conviction, will not longer adhere to 

 it when they see it condemned by people whose character 

 and judgment they are bound to respect. 



More Truth than Fiction. — Scene in court — A small 

 boy, caught in the act of shooting birds, has been arrested 

 for truancy. Officer— "This, your honor, is the youn» 

 truant and bird shooter." Judge— "I am deeply distressed 

 to see you, so young a lad, so cruel. Do you not attend 

 both day and Sabbath school, where you sing beautiful songs 

 about the lovely birds and their little nestlings? And does 

 not your own mother teach you when you say your prayers 

 at night, how wicked it is to shoot the dear birds?" Small 

 boy — "Yes, sir." Judge — "Then you must be depraved in- 

 deed! Your extreme youth would certainly demand clem- 

 ency. H you were an outcast, an orphan I — " Small boy — 

 "Then, judge, I wouldn't ha' done it. 'Twas for mother's 

 hat. Tnat bird was ten times prettier 'n the one in your 

 wife's bonnet, 'cause I seen it last Sunday in Sunday school. 

 She's my teacher." Judge — "Oh! Oh! yes! A case of 

 necessity, I see. You were not shooting in mere, wanton 

 sport; discharge the boy and bring on the next case." — 

 Portland Transcript. 



