344 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The observation of the Fish Commission agent in the St. Johns River leads him 
to think that the alligators are very nearly exterminated in that part of the river 
below Palatka, and above that point the number is becoming less year by year. Some 
hunters who have devoted many years to the business have given it up, and few, if 
any, are killing as many as they were four or five years ago. It seems only a question 
of time when this valuable fishery resource, which could by proper care be preserved 
to the State for an indefinite period, will become exhausted, to the great disadvantage 
of a large element of the population inhabiting the interior [tarts of the State. 
In the Indian River region, Cocoa, Melbourne, and Fort Pierce are headquarters 
for alligator hunting and trade in the hides. At Cocoa about 10 men engage in 
hunting at times when other work does not receive attention, and in 1889 and 1890 
took about 2,500 animals. In 1888 the same hunters secured 5,000 skins. A few 
years ago one of these hunters killed 800 alligators in a season, and another obtained 
42 in one night. Twenty-five men were regularly employed in this business at one time. 
In 1889 and 1890, 12 hunters in the vicinity of Melbourne secured about 2,000 alligators. 
At Fort Pierce large numbers of alligators were handled in former years ; in 1889, 12 
men brought in about 4,000 skins, and in 1890, 2,000 skins and 100 otter pelts. 
Hear Lake Worth but little attention is given to hunting, owing to the scarcity of 
alligators. Only 3 men follow it regularly, in the summer months, getting from 100 to 
150 animals each. In 1890 they shipped 450 hides to Jacksonville, which was about the 
usual yield in recent years. In 1889, 6,700 alligator hides were shipped from Miami 
to New York via Key West, and in 1890, 5,033 hides went from the same place. 
Kissimmee, situated on Lake Tohopekaliga, in the interior of the State, is an im- 
portant center of the alligator trade in the eastern half of Florida. In 1889 three 
firms were located there for the purpose of buying skins taken in the region between 
Lake Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee, and in that year they handled 33,600 hides ; in 
1890 only two of these firms did business, and purchased about 15,000 skins. This 
decline of over 50 per cent was principally due to the scarcity of alligators, but was 
also influenced by the low prices received by the hunters and, to a certain extent, by 
the diversion of the trade from Kissimmee to Fort Myers, on the western side of the 
State. In 1889 about 20,000 of the skins went directly to New York and the others 
to Jacksonville; the following year 10,000 were sent to New York and the remainder 
to Jacksonville. The skins mentioned represent the work of about 20 professional 
and 80 semi-professional hunters. The aggregate number of animals killed and the 
average number to a man are very much less than the results a few years ago, 
when a skillful hunter could easily secure 600 alligators in two or three weeks. The 
marketable skins are from 3 to 12 feet in length, and are worth on an average about 
60 cents apiece to the hunters, a sum which is taken out in provisions, ammunition, 
etc. The dealers receive 65 cents each in money from the tanners in New York. 
The income of the alligator hunters in this region is considerably augmented by 
the capture of otters ( Lutra canadensis), of which about 1,000 skins were sold in 1890 
at an average price of $3.50 each ; large numbers of other skins are also brought in, 
including those of the deer, bear, wildcat, opossum, and raccoon. A few years ago a 
large trade was also carried on in the skins and plumes of aquatic and wading birds, 
but the practical extermination of the birds over large areas has necessitated a dis- 
continuance of the business. 
During the past three or four years a large part of the alligator trade of Florida has 
been centered in Jacksonville, where, in the years covered by this inquiry, there were 
