Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1892-11-23
ABOUT ALLIGATORS.
One Bad Habit which the Reptile Has In
Notwithstanding In EInrIda.

One Bad Habit which the Reptile Has In
Notwithstanding In Florida.
at was my first hunting trip in Flor
ida, and was anxious to shoot an alli-
gator; so / snatched up my gun before
the camp was half made and wandered
along the bank of the Indian river
looking for one. Although I wanted
big game, did not despise the small,
and so carried dou le-barreled breech-
loader, one barrel of which threw ball
and the other shot. l had splendid
retriever, too, for which l had paid
pretty sum, and expected him to earn
his price.
st was not long before came upon
little flock of coots, a curious water
fowl, looking like a cross between a
duck and a hen. I fired into the
flock and killed two. My dog dashed
In after them, and retrieving
one, brought it ashore. When he turned
TO go after the other it was gone. I
thought it strange, and so did the dog,
evidently, for he swan all about look
Ing for it. Suddenly he give yelp
struggling violently for moment in
the water and then disappeared beneath
the surface.
81 had found my alligator. That
thought struck me all at once. And he
had found my expensive dog, and did
not like the meeting one little bit. Not
knowing how big the brute might be,
and having had no experience of ALI
gators anyway, felt genuinely afraid
to tackle this unseen, noiseless foe and
60 to my dogs rescue. Wading eau
tiously in, leaped upon a fallen tree
which lay half in and half out of the
water a few yards from shore. On
the other side of 1t the river be-
came suddenly deep, and here l could
see my poor dog, held under water in
the jaws of good-sized alligator, and
slowly drowning. The alligator was
taking things coolly. He was in no
hurry. Nature had fitted him on pur-
pose to drown animals in his jaws,
while he breathed freely in the air
above. His nostrils were on top of his
upper jaw at the end, and he was thus
able to keep them just above surface of
the water, while my dog was wholly
immersed.
''Quiclx as flash 1 fred both barrels
at him. The bullet struck the water
just above his head and recocheted rods
and rods away, and the shot kicked up
little ripple above him and that was
all. He dived deeper and moved off
with my dog and never saw either of
them again. That was my first expert
ence with an alligator.
1.-THE next one l met was lying basl1-
ing in the sun on a mud fat. Icrawled
cautiously up within gunshot and be-
fore firing watched the curious creature
was astonished to see little plover
settle on his ugly head and began to
pick, pick, pick among the big brutes'
scales. Thought I, My little fellow,
you will be snapped up by those cruel
jaws for your impertinence.' Presently
the plover got around to the alligator's
nose, still picking, picking, and the big
jaws began to open slowly. They
opened about foot and to my surprise
the little plover walked right inside
and began to pick more vigorously than
ever among the horrid teeth. laughed
so that the alligator took alarm and
waded into deep water; not without
holding his jaws open long enough,
however, for the plover to come out OF
his mouth and fly away.
81 afterward learned that this species
of plover greedily eats the water leeches
which fasten on the alligater's gums
and other pests which burrow under
his scales, and the big lizard will not
hurt the bird so useful to him.
''My third alligator / shot dead and
had the pleasure of skinning him.
learned then how the brute can hold his
mouth wide open under water, withou
letting anything go down his throat o.
windpipe. There is Il valve in the bacl
of its mouth which can be made to shu
off the mouth completely from tn,
throat, and as the upper jaws lift up
ward and the nostrils are on top, as
said before, the creature can breathe
without showing anything above water
but the tip of his nose.
Every body knows that an alligato
is we'll supplied with teeth, but few
know that the baby alligator is borl
with all its teeth in place. They ar
conical on top and hollow at the base
The new ones come up and shove thei
comic al tops into the hollow base of tn
old ones, gradually forcing them out
This shedding and renewing Of teet
goes on all its life. Moreover bah
alligator probably grows more, in pre-
portion, than any other animal !
comes out of shell no bigger than
goose egg. From the start It has t
fear the cannibalistic appetite of il
father. 1t is curious fact that hi
ancient ancestors had the same tricl
for in the fossilized bodies of the NAL
ulesiosaurus have been found the 20
SLICED fragments of baby plesiosauri.
INV fourth and last alligator l cal
turea alive with the aid of daring n,
GRO hunter. BY means of squealini
hungry littiS pig tied to tree sho
way from the river bank we enticed
fine. medium-sized alligator to crawl l
the bank and little way into the gra
after the succulent poriIer. Then v
got between him and the river, al
with n singular boldness and agility II
hunting companion jumped astride u
back of the scaly beast and, bendiI
down, grasped one of its short forele
in each hand, and by main streng
dragged them back and yanked the
upon the alligator's back; for all L
world like crossing mans arms behn
him. in this undignihsd position I
alligator fell forward on it's belly al
throat. and could only lash its tail a DO
in impotent rage. 1t was not har'
tie it up after that, bat 1T seemed 70
a dangerous way to monkey win
gator. IN. Y. Tribune.
THEY'RE ALL DIFFERENT.
Nobody Ever Saw Two Women WI
Were just Alike.