The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-04-12
HUNTING AlLIGATORS.
How the Sport Is Conducted In Florida
at Nighttime

How the Sport Is Conducted In Florida
at Nighttime
Alligator hunting by night is the
great sport in Florida In their pres
ent panic-stricken condition the alli-
gators seldom go far away from the
water in the daytime, but make all
their overland journeys at night. They
are growing very uneasy at the ad-
vance of civilization, and have learned
10 shun both men and steamboats,. So
frightened have they become that re-
peated trips may be made the entire
length of the ST. Johns river without
single specimen being seem Alliga-
tor hunting was formerly one Of the
most lucrative pursuits in Florida, as
well as a source of infinite amuse-
ment TO tourists. The reptiles were
slaughtered in great numbers all over
the State They seemingly possess no
intelligence whatever, and are notably
slothful, but have learned that safety
Is found only in hasty flight and Sc
clUsion- In former years they were
shot at random by excursionists from
the deck of nearly every steamboat
that navigated the lakes and rivers OF
the State, but now the iron-clad rule
Is everywhere enforced on board that
aligators must not be seriously dis
turbcd by either passengers or en-
ployes. This regulation has been
rendered necessary to satisfy women
and children who constantly complain
OF being in Florida for weeks without
ever seeing a single real live alligator
in its native haunts. Under present
| conditions alligator hunting by day
light has become tedious and un-
! profitable in most parts of the pen
insula, and novel scheme for killing
them at night has been adopted. The
hunters equip themselves with guns,
revolvers and bulrs-eye lanterns The
alligator track is reached soon after
dark, for the alligators begin 10 move
early in the night. The tracks are
as plainly marked as wagon roads,
and are made by the reptiles
constantly travelling from one
lake, river or swamp to another. The
alligators can be heard at considerable
distance laboriously approaching.
The men preserve absolute silence un-
til the alligators reach the proper
| point and then turn their bull 's-eyes
upon them. The dazzling stream or
light seemingly paralyzes the reptiles,
and they stop short in their journey.
| Their eyes bulge out and sparkle, and
| at these glistening Orbs the hunters
| direct their aim 1t is useless to shoot
| the >alligators except in the open
mouth or under the throat. as the shot
| Is repellcd by the tough skin or other
parts of the body, producing no per-
| ceptible effect, except in instances to
| exasperate the reptiles to frenzied re
sistance. In one case, between lakes
| Nellie and Louisa, in this county, a
! few days ago, an alligator supposed
to be fatally shot showed fight when
| approached, and knocked one of
the men unconscious with its
tail Fearing to shoot then because
of possible injury to their companion,
the other hunters attacked the fero-
cious reptile with clubs, one of which,
four or five inches in diameter, was
seized in the monsters jaws and
crushed to splinters. A man Is usu-
ually employed to remove the hides
and teeth, while the bodies are left as
food for the numerous buzzards, which
are here protected by the law. The
hides sell for from one dollar to three
dollars each, and the teeth for As
much, the former being in demand for
the manufacture Of various leather
goods. and the latter to be worked up
into jcwclry and other ornaments.
Half a dozen enUerprising men can
capture from one 10 a score Of aIliga-
tors in single night, tho number de
pending largely on the locality select
cd and tho conditions Of the weather.
If the migratory propensities OF the
aligators continue 10 develop. so that
they can be reached without encoun.
tering .he dangers of the swamps
they will be practically e2terminated
throughout this region within the
next few years.-Cor. Chicago Herald.