Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1892-08-11
o ~AILIGATOaS.
0ae had Habas whsrh the Reptile Has fn-
h~rtteA-Hz.sisx IN rsrtds-

along me RANK OF the in1fAn river
looking for ~ Although I wanted
big game. ! did not despi.e the small.
and 80 carried 6Ouble-harreled hreeeh-
leader. one barrel Of which threw ball
and the other shot I had a splendid
retriever. too for which I had paid a
pretty sum- and I expected him 10 earn
his prsce-
1T was not long before I came upon
n little fock Of coots. n curious water
fowl looking ike a cross between a
duck and a hen I fred into IN.
fOck and killed two Ny dog dashed
IN after them. and retrieving
aae. brought il ashore when he turned
u 20 after the other Il was ron
thought IL TRANCE. and - did the dog.
evidently. for he swan all about look
ing FOR IT, Suddenly he give a yeIp,
struggling violentiy for = omen IN
the water and then disappeared beneath
the surface
Il had found my alligator That
thought struck me all at once And he
had found nv expensive dog. and did
not like the meeting one little bit Not
knowing how big the brute might he.
and having had no experience of alli-
xstors anyway, I felt genuinely afraid
to tackle this unseen. ~noiS-less foe and
20 20 my dogs rescue Wading su-
tiously in. / leaped uPou a fallen tree
which lay half in and half out Of the
water y few yards from shore On
the other side of IL the river BE-
came Suddenly deep and h-re I could
- kN =
the jaws OF \ ~good->ized alligator. aud
slowly drowning The alligator was
taking things eooIly- He was in no
hurry Nature had Httef him on pur-
pore TO drown animals IN his Jaws
while he br~athed freely In the air
above His nostriis were On top Of his
upper Jaw az the end and he was thus
able 10 keep them Jus. ab-0E~ surface Of
the water. while my dog was wholly
immersed
-Qubek as a cash I fred both barrels
At him The bullet struck the water
just above his head and recochsted rods
and rods way. and the shot kicked ar
n little ripple above him and that wa
all He Owed deeper and moved of
with my dog and I never saw either of
them again That was my first expert
enc~ with an alligator
The next 7 met was living ha<k
ing n the sun On a mud fat TerzwI<d
cautiously up within Euushos and h~
fore firing watched the curious creature.
] was sstOnish%d 10 see a little plov-r
settle on his ugly head and began -
pick pack p6ek among the bug brutes'
scales Thought !. Ny little fellow.
you VII be snapped up by tho-e cruel
avs for y0ur imp~rrin~nee-' Pres~utIv
the Plov~r got around TO the alligator.
nose, still picking. Pi-tS7z. and the big
avs began TO open slowly They
opened about a foot and 10 my surprise
the little plover walked right inside
and began 20 Piek more vigorously than
ever among the horTid teeth I laughed
80 that the alligator took alarm and
vaded into deep water. not without
holding his jaws open long enough.
however. for the plOver 20 come out of
his mouth and ty away
I aftsrward learned that this species
Of PlDvrr greedily ats the water le~rheS
vhirh fas,en % the alIiyaters gums
and other pests which burrow under
his seales and the big lizard will not
hurt the bird 50 us~fuIl 10 him
MY third alligator shot dead and 7
had the pleasure Of skinuinx him I
learned then how the brute can hold his
mouth wide op~n under water. without
letting anything 20 down his throat or
wrnfPipe- There : a valve in the back
cf It's Mouth which can be made to shu,
OF the mouth completely from the
thruat- and as the upper Jaws lift up-
ward and the nostrils are on top. as I
said before. the creature can breathe
without showing anything above water.
but the tip of his nose
Everybody knows tha. an alligator
i well supplied with teeth but few
know that the baby alligator Is born
with all its teeth in place. They are
eouical on top and hollow at the base.
The new ones come mp and shove their
comic al tops into the hollow base of the
old ones. gradually forcing them out.
This shedding and renewing of teeth
goes on all its life Moreover a baby
alligator probably grows more, in pro-
portion than any other animal 1t
comes out of a she'll no bigger than a
goose egg From the start il has to
fear the eannibalistic appetite of its
father Ii Is a curious fact that his
ancient ancestors had the same trick.
for IN the foesilized bodies of the male
p~lesiosaurus have been found the fos-
silized fragments of baby pIesiosauri
My fourth and last alligator I can
tured alive with the aid of a daring ne
gro hunter By means Of a ~squeaIin~.
hungry little pig tied to a tree a shor.
way from the river hank we entieed q
inc, medIum-sizrd alligator to erawiup
he bank and little way into the grass
after the ~sueruleut Porker. Then VIC
got between him and the river. and
with a singular holiness and agility INV
hunting companion jumped astride the
back of the sealy beast and. bending
down, grasPed n of It's short foreIegs
in each hand. and by main strength
dragged them back and yanked them
upon the alligstors back; for all the
world like crossing a mans arms behind
him In this undignifed position the
alligator fell forward on its belly and
THREAT, and could only lash its tail about
in impotent rage IL was not hard u
tie II up after that. but IL seemed to me
1 a GaugerouS WAY tn srronk~v -s -