The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-12-24
AlliGotOrs.

The female alligator will not allow the male to
approach her nest He has . gluttonous habit Of
eating all the eggs, thus necessitatng her laying
more, which che does net like to do. So, when.
ever she catches him in that nelghborhood, she
thrashes him on general princlples-he either
has done mischief OF intends it.; at any rate, he
he Is msddting in domestic matters and deserves
saaooing. am told that 1t 10 really amusing to
500 the big bully stick his tail between his less
and sneak off, the very image Of a henpecked
husband, after oae Of these conjugal scsldings.
As 10 net by any means . model husband; a.
though he takes bis thrashing kindly, he revsnses
himself BY watching until the eggs are Matched,
aud then eats up - many Of tho causes of tho
family dispute - he can catch. Young allixs-
tors do not like very we'll to know their own
fathers
heard Of but few instances where these crea.
lures have attacked grown men they are fond Of
children, and show their attachment to the Off
spring OF other people as they do to their own
In one instance, where man on horseback VA
crossings ford, hs was seized by the leg, but
when his dog plunged in, the alligator left his
leg TO take the moro delicate morsel. In another
instance, an alligator struck at mule pulling q
cart, and bit out two spokes from oae of the
wheels, leaving tooth sticking in one AZ me.
mento of tho visit. He hurried off with great
speed, on the lookout, suppose, for dentist.
~, Gators like dogs, pigs and young darkies.
The dog is special favorite. The whine of an
alligator is easily mistaken for that of q puppy,
and may mislead young and mex psrienced dog.
A wise Florida dog will not go boldly down to
the water to drink; he learns by experience, af-
ter having been eaten once or twice. If the shore
Is open he will draw all the alligators to ono
place by barking, and then scamper off to some
other place where the coast is clear; or he will
creep down to moist spot, tail down, eyes skin.
ned and ears up, pushing his paws before him
slowly to feel tho water tapping it without noise,
and then sneaking away again.
The alligator has his uses /; near every house
you ano more or less swamp. aud in every swamp
more or less alligator. heard one lady com.
PLAIN very much because some traveller had kill.
60 her alligator. He lived near and killed snakes.
frogs, young wild cats and other varmints; thus
ne earned his board, and was conseq uently pro-
tected; besides this, he was useful in preventing
young children from straying too far from home.
Inns worthy creature is very much maligned,
however; every theft of cattle i. laid on his slimy
back, aad that even when the animal il found in
the woods aud the entrails carefully taken out
aud left behind His eyes are on the top of his
heao, aud 1t Is curious to sse the creature swim.
ming along with only his eyes floating above the
surface. lie comes ASHORE 70 sleep in the sun
snine, and, paying attention to hi, sleep, becomes
40 deAd to all sound that steamboat may como
aiongslde; then his astonishmeut when bullet
wakes him up and the hurried way in which he
scufti-. into the water, are sometimes very ludi.
ero"-.-LtppincoHs Adgaz.ne.