The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-01-29
HABITs or sAuRIANs.


How alligator, and Gangss Crocodllee
ssfIsfy Their Appetites
Turning to the character and habits
Of these large saur ans, we find Chat In
formation concerning them Is at once
large In quantity. contradictory in ten
o., and very incomplete. The manner
In which accounts present themselves
TO the reader OF books Of travel and de-
scriptive zoology is this: Allgators do
not eat men the largo animals. but
crocodiles do They are both man-eat-
ers occasionally. When crocodtIes WISH
to indulge In ~lanthropophagy, their
method is file In wait under bank.
and sweep some one into the stream by
. blow from the tail They do nothing
OF the sort 1t is their custom to cum
ceal themselves In holes near ford or
bathing-place, and make rush at any
unfortunate who comes within reach.
There is no truth whatever in either Of
the former statements. % witness q
number Of persons who have disported
themselves in waters swarming with
splggestNnd ugliest OF saurIanA Az
with regard to these particulars so with
respect to all The animals, or Que Of
them at least, has been deified and en-
ba1med, but the writer is not aware that
any one has systematically observed
their habits. So far, however, Ms at
lacking men goes. the author is person
ally cognizant of two cases in which the
cay1nan destroyed human beings and
on this account sees no reason to doubt
those stories of Inglis, Drummond, etc,
in which the destructiveness of Asiatic
and African Crocodilta is displayed.
Every one knows that large saurians lie
on the mud and sun themselves, and
that unless shot dead. which is difficult
to accomplish, not from any impenetra-
bility of their skin defenses, which a
riae-baH will pierce easily. but because
they have great tenacity OF life and
small brains, they invariably manage to
reach the water and die there. Equally
general is the knowledge that they bury
their eggs and leave them to be Matched
by solar heat Also that the trochy1us
Tor Gharadrius wyypticus, as 1t Is now
called) attends the crocodile like other
birds do the elephant buffalo, rh.-
noceros, etc, for the sake of their para
sites, upon which they feed, and that
these animals are often warned OF tho
hunters approach by their cries Every
mans hand is against such reptiles,
and numbers OF enemies destroy their
eggs and young also, so that as In some
places-as, for example, the waters Of
the Gulf States-their numbers have
sensibly diminished.
Fish, and small aquatic or semi
aquatic animals, or any creature they
can kill, is eaten by crocodiles or alli-
gators, and there seems to be little
doubt that they are carrion-eaters by
preference. Reliable observation shows
that dead bodies floating on the streams
they inhabit or contiguous to them are
constantly consumed, and 1t seems to be
certain that prey killed by themselves
is commonly kept until 1t putrifies and
the body thus becomes moro easily dis
membered. The whole character Of the
digestive tract indicates that their food
is bottled, and on many occasions the
contents of dead scrocodile's stomach
has been found to be as incongruous as
those of sharks. Like all other ami
mails, the saurians in question become
restless and excited in the pairing sea-
son, believing much at this period, and
frequently threatening attack. 1t is
by no means unusual to witness such
demonstrations, but there is no record,
SO far as the writer's knowledge goes, OF
their having proceeaed to extremities
either against armed men on shore or in
boats DIR. j. Ii. Porter, in National
Tribune