July 16, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
93 
An Alligator Hunt. 
The noon meal was over, the dishes were 
washed and the camp once more in order; we 
were free to spend the remainder of the day 
as we chose. J. took the rifle and went after 
some turkeys whose tracks he had discovered 
among the huckleberry bushes and scrub spruce 
on the ridge. Failing to obtain a turkey, he 
said he would fall back on more humble game 
and procure a rabbit for our supper, for at 
places the ridge was beaten down with their 
tracks. 
I was deeply interested in an article in a 
magazine, and when I had finished reading, J. 
was out of sight and hearing and the sun had 
already begun to sink toward the west. Picking 
up my shotgun, I slipped some shells loaded 
with buckshot and some No. 7 s into m y 
pocket and sallied forth on a prospecting tour, 
ready for either large game or small. For 
some distance I followed the spruce-covered 
ridge, and seeing nothing turned off to the 
right and entered a dense cypress wood. The 
walking was bad, for in some places the ground 
was very uneven and at others soft, the whole 
covered by a dense growth of fern, which grew 
to the height of three or four feet. Fallen trees 
and the ever present cypress knees also aided 
in making progress tiresome for the hunter, but 
the picture presented to the eye when once 
fairly in the midst of such a forest well repays 
for the difficulties. Great towering trees, 
straight, smooth, and devoid of limbs for a 
distance of twenty or more feet from the 
ground, loomed up on all sides, while the deep 
blue of the cloudless sky was almost hidden 
from view by massive drapings of Spanish 
moss. Not a sound broke the stillness, save 
now and then the faint murmuring of the 
breeze among the branches. 
After a pause for rest I went on, coming at 
last upon a small, muddy, ill-smelling water 
course. Cranes and other water birds had 
fouled the banks, and half eaten bodies of fish 
lay all about. I followed this stream a short 
distance and came upon a fresh deer track, but 
it soon turned off into the rank vegetation df 
the swamp and was lost. I .then turned off 
down another water course and soon came to 
a place where a number of alligators had been 
holding high carnival, judging by the great 
number of tracks and the way in which they 
crossed one another. As most of these tracks 
led down stream, I followed and at last caught 
a glimpse, through the overhanging bushes, of 
a small lake. 
This lake, or to be more exact, mud pond— 
proved to be a perfect paradise for ’gators. 
It was well hidden in the swamp and surrounded 
on all sides by dense undergrowth, and the 
water was full of dead trees, stumps and cypress 
knees. I crouched down behind a stump and 
imitated as near as possible the grunt of a 
’gator. Answering grunts came from the dis¬ 
tance and several heads popped up from the 
water near my feet, to be drawn back just as 
quickly. A shotgun is not the proper weapon 
for shooting ’gators; however, I could not re¬ 
sist the temptation to try a shot at one which 
was peering at me from the shadow of a tree 
trunk. A charge of buckshot finished him, but 
it also finished the hide for selling purposes, 
as I afterward learned when skinning him. 
Wri 
i 1 
mm 
IN THE GIANT CYPRESS. 
A LIKELY PLACE FOR ’GATORS. 
I refrained from shooting any more of them, 
intending to come back next day with my part¬ 
ner and make a big haul, but I did shoot a big 
cotton mouth moccasin which insisted on main¬ 
taining his position on a log upon which I 
wished to cross the pond. While strolling 
along, several ’gators which had been away on 
a visit to some other part of the swamp, re¬ 
turned and upon seeing me made a rush for 
the water—scaring me almost as badly as they 
themselves were frightened. 
I returned to camp and found my partner 
skinning a rabbit which he had shot for our 
supper. While lie prepared the meal, I looked 
after my ’gator hide and related the story of 
my find in the swamp, and we agreed that on 
the next day we would pay our respects to the 
’gators. 
When we arrived at the pond next day, we 
found the saurians as plentiful as before, and 
my rifle soon settled several of them, but they 
grew shy and it required the most pleading 
and persistent grunting on J.'s part to make 
them show their heads. The smaller ones were 
not so cautious, and I could easily have killed 
numbers of them, but we only took the larger 
ones and they for the most part wisely kept 
out of sight. Curiosity would finally get the 
best of several of them and they came to the 
surface to take a peep at the two strange fig¬ 
ures on the bank,, only to find the rifle waiting 
for them. When possible I shot them so as 
to break the neck and not spoil the skins any 
more than necessary. 
J. played retriever and dragged them from 
beneath the muddy water with his bare hands, 
taking chances in getting hold of the dead ones, 
but he finally dragged one out which was only 
stunned, and once on the bank it became very 
much alive and required another bullet. 
After a time we proceeded to another pond 
nearby, wriggling through the tangled under¬ 
growth like a pair of snakes. Water moccasins 
were plentiful and so were cranes, herons and 
kingfishers. A pair of herons lf&d a nest in a 
bush about four feet from the ground, and 
when we paused to look at the downy little 
fledglings the parents objected strongly, flap¬ 
ping noisily about and scolding hoarsely. 
At the other pond we paused, for there, on 
the opposite bank, with body submerged and 
big, ugly head resting lazily on the surface, 
was the “daddy of ’em all.” I did not care 
to shoot at him at that distance with my small 
rifle and so we moved cautiously around the 
pond so as to get nearer to him, but he was 
on the alert and sank quickly from view in 
the dark waters and remained there. 
There remained the task of removing the 
hides and we now united our energies to ac¬ 
complish- it. When we had finished with the 
last one the stars were shining brightly. Sup¬ 
per was now prepared and eaten and at a late 
hour we sought our blankets beside the blazing 
fire of pitch pine. C. A. V. 
Game Protection in Kentucky. 
The Kentucky Fish and Game Protective As¬ 
sociation, of Louisville, is endeavoring to secure 
the appointment of additional game wardens. 
Efforts have also been made by it to induce the 
LTnited States Bureau of Fisheries to establish 
a fish hatchery in Jefferson county. In this work 
Congressman Swager has promised his assistance. 
