Morning journal and courier., 1889-02-16
ALLIGATOR HUNTING. The Saurians Slaughtered In Great Number by she Florida Sportsmen.

Number by the Florida Sportsmen. [Eustis (Fla) Letter to Chicago Tribune.l Alligator hunting by night is now the great sport in Florida. Alligators have learned to avoid mankind and steamboats. Repeated trips can now be made the entire
 length of the St. Johns River without see- ing single specimen. The reptiles have been hunted down until they conceal them selves at the first sound of boat or the sight of any human kind.
 Alligator hunting was formerly one of the most profitable pursuits in Florida as we'll as
 a source of infinite amusement. The rep
 tiles have been slaughtered in immense
 numbers all over the State. They seemingly
 possess no intelligence and are slothful be-
 yond description, but neverless have learned
 that man is their enemy and safety is secured only by nasty flight and seclussion when he appears. They were formerly shot for pas-
 time by excursionists from the deck of near-
 ly every steamboat that navigated the lakes and rivers of the State, but now the from clad rule is everywhere enforced upon boats that alligators must be seriously disturbed
 by either passengers or employees. This rule has been rendered necessary to satisfy
 women and children, who frequently coms
 plain that they have been in Florida for weeks without ever seeing single real live alligator in his native haunts.
 Under present conditions alligator hunting by daylight has become tiresome, uninter-
 
 parts of the peninsula, and the hunters have adopted the novel scheme of killing them by night. The men equip themselves with guns, revolvers, knives bulls-eye lanterns and seek an alligator track as soon ss it is dark. Those tracks are as plainly marked as wagon roads and are made by the alli- gators constantly moving from one lake, river or swamp to another. The men take their stations and preserve absolute silence. The alligators can be heard at @ consider able distance laboriously approaching. When at the proper point the bulls eyes are turned upon them. The sudden stream | of dazzling light terrorize them, and they are seemingly paralyzed for the nonce. Their eyes bulge out and sparkle like huge diamonds, and at these glistening orbs the hunters direct their aim. It is useless to 1 shoot them except in the eyes, the open | mouth or under the throat, as their tough \ skins turn away the shot and receive no in- | jury. When the slligators are all killed the hunters move on to another ridge and await | the approach of more victims.
 A negro is usually employed to remove | the hides and teeth, while the remains are left as food for the numerous buzzsrds
 which are here protected by law. The ! teath for much more, the latter being | worked up into jewelry and other orna- | ments. Half dozen enterprising men can secure from one to a score of alligators in 8 single night, the number depending on the | location and the condition of the weather. If the reptiles contsiue their migratory ! habits there will be little trouble in exterm- | mating them within @ few years without encountering the dangers of entering the swamps to pursue them. The disposition to move about apparently grows on them with the advance of civilization, the uneasi- ness among them being engendered presum- ably by the persistency with which they are puIsu l. In their present panic-strick-
 en condition they are seldom found from the
 water in daylight, but make all their over
 land journeys by night.