E. A. Mcllhenny. 
AMERICAN ALLIGATOR GUARDING NEST (Alligator mississippiensis). Length: 
12 feet. Range: Southern United States. 
Its tail is a formidable weapon. A nine-foot specimen, previously 
thought to be dead, once snapped its tail against the legs of a two-hundred 
pound man. The blow broke his leg and threw him several feet from the 
starting point. Since the creature’s thick neck prevents the head from turn¬ 
ing, the whole body is bent like a bow and then snapped in the reverse 
direction with tremendous and devastating force. 
The tough hide of alligators is traversed by furrows which divide it 
into diamond-shaped figures. The animal is further protected by rows of 
bony scutes or scales, which are extraordinarily tough but are not, as 
popularly believed, bullet-proof. 
It has no lips, and its more than eighty, long, conical teeth are naked 
and prominent even when the mouth is closed. Each eye, equipped with 
eyelids, is augmented by a third transparent lid. These transparent lids 
enable alligators to keep their eyes open when submerged in muddy water. 
Today eight feet is the average length of alligators, but in past times 
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