Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1892-02-27
RIDING THE ALLIGATOR.
Exciting Though Dangerous Sport II
Florida.

Exciting Inoagn dangerous sport IN
I. Florida.
If tho ancient writers and painters
who depicted men on horseback as CEN
taurs were now living, what field they
would find in Florida for originating
new forms of life, provided they fol-
lowed the ideas developed in the pro-
duction Of the creature that was part
man and part horse! Here, for in
! stance, they could see men riding huge
| saurians across . lake without either
| reins or saddle; some coming from the
| depths of the ocean mounted on gigan-
| tic turtles weighing as much as Clydes-
dale horses, and others straddling .
! Jewish, shark Or porpoise or being
| towed behind an'enormous sea-6evil in
! a cockleshen Of boat or in a large
| schooner.
The announcement recently made in
sensational New York Journal that
man was navigating the maritime wat
ers OF Florida mounted on u fourteen
foot alligator is not SO impossible as
some persons may imagine. Yet
| doubt If it will ever be performed by
the present type Of humanity and sau-
rian, for reasons that are self evident.
Tampa boasts OF Il colored citizen who
has no more fear of an alligator than he
has of the harmless lizard. and who
will attempt to ride one any day for a
small sum of money. His method of
riding the reptile is to enter a lake or
pond where the species congregate, Sc
lect a large one. jump on its back
| quickly and, pressing his thumbs on its
eyes. urge it shoreward.
An enploye of the South Florida rail.
road, whose name have received per-
| mission to use, informed me that he
had often mounted old bulls in the
lakes of fernando county and ridden
| them ashore without any trouble, by
| simply pressing his thumbs on their
| eyes and urging them forward with his
heels or shouts He found it far easier
| to mount them than to dismount for as
soon as his saurian steed touched the
| shore it tried to seize his leg by
bringing its tail and head suddenly
together and rolling over aud over
| like barrel going down hill This is
the ordinary method employed by alli-
gators for capturing their prey or
enemies, aud as its efficacy depends on
! the prompt conjunction of jaws and tail,
the stroke may be readily avoided by
little "fguring," to use Mr.. Stafford's
| expression.
According to nfr. Stafford. all he had
| to do when in want of an aquatic mus
! tang was to enter a half-dried pond,
pick out the largest and LATEST saurian
! he saw there, mount it promptly and
point it's head laudward. The mounted
animal, according to his statement,
mal<es no fuss about moving wherever
| it is directed while in the water, but
the moment it touches land it uses
] every effort to throw and devour its
| jockey.
l., L. 49, sI4 Ill 49,
| distance overland by tying its muzzle,
as it does not attempt to do any injury
| until it can throw its open mouth and
long tail together by sudden sweep
| to one side. Mr.. Stafford. who is, l
| believe, a native Of Florida, a veteran
hunter and an expert alligator jockey,
relates an anecdote which shows tn at
saurian riding is as dangerous as Irish
stceplechasing when the mount is
suIky or wounded He had ridden an
alligator ashore during one OF his hunt
| ing trips, and as it was rather large
| and it's skin, as a consequence. unusu-
ally valuable, he decided to kill and
fay it near the pond
After emptyiug the contents of his
rifle into its head and assuring himself
of its being dead, he drew his knife to
fay it; but he had hardly touched the
ncaQ ere CuC dttSdttF TctuCuSd Co lie
with a vigor that Lazarus never ap-
| preached, and, seizing him by the coat
sleeve, commenced rolling over and
over.
The second Or third roll took the
sleeve off his coat and dislocated his
arm, and on being set free in this uu-
expected manner it did not take him
long to scramble out of reach of the
furious reptile. A physician who was
hunting with him set his arm in a few
moments, and when that was done the
Jockey poured lead into his late mount
until he was sure that his ferocious
spirit had fled to join it's ancestors A
man who has shot alligators for their
hides, told me that they were harmless
in winter and inclined to avoid contest
with man at all times unless they were
wounded or defe nding their young
They are worse in the pairing season
than at any other, the bulls being then
unusually petulant, more than ordi-
narily stupid aud stubborn and inclined
to resent any intrusion on their
grounds. Yet by boldly facing them
they can be forced to turn tail and run,
and may even be mounted and ridden
ashore, provided there are no females
in the vicinity.
He once tried to ride an old bull
towards a landmark that loomed above
all other objects on the fiat shore of
lake on dark night, and wondered
why his steed tried SO hard to turn
away from it whenever the thumbs
were lifted off the eyes, but he was
able to account for it readily few mo-
ments later when an enraged female
that was guarding the landmark. which
was her nest rushed open-nouthed
and grunting like an insane grizzly at
them and sent her conqueror fleeing
precipitately to the rear and its jockey
deep into the mud.
Fortunately for him the assailant
was more enraged at the bull than at
the jockey, and followed it several
hundred yards charging at intervals