Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1896-08-06
WAYSOF ALLIGATORS
THE SAURIAN AT CLOSE RANGE IN
HIS FLORIDA HOME.

How the Female Lays Her Eggs and Cares
For Her Young-A Mother Will Fight
Anything That Threatens Her Babies.
Diet and Luxuries of Alligators.
Ono of the sights most eagerly watch
ed for by the newly arrived Florida Wis.,
itor, us he glides over tho lakes and
rivers of that genial land, is the alliga-
tor. A few years ago this desire was
easily gratified, but the great saurian is
comparatively rare nowadays along the
older routes of travel This is due partly
to the bullets Of the visitors and partly
to the shots and traps of the more legit-
innate alligator hunter, who finds in
that pursuit the chief means of support
for himself and his family.
1t is in the dense Businesses Of the in
land swamps and everglades that ALI
gators may be seen in great numbers on
a bright day, basking in the sunshine.
They are gregarious and love to assem-
bic in such places, where they bring
their two rows of strong teeth together
with prodigious CHATTER and roar with
a noise that resembles thunder.
The female makes her nest in thosand
near the waters edge, scraping hole
with her paws and dropping the eggs in
a regular layer. Then she scrapes grass,
leaves, mud and sand over them, on
these places another layer, and SO con-
tinues alternate layers until the nest
contains from so to 40 eggs. AS the hole
is rarely deep enough to hold all these,
~ ic a p,,n i1xyf 10
tected by the experienced hunter, who
finds ready sale for the eggs as curiosi
ties. They are white, hard shelled and
rather larger than hens egg. If he
prefers to await their Matching, he Sc
cures fine lot Of little alligators, for
which also there is always q ready sale.
While she thus leaves her prospective
children to the doubtful guardianship
of the earth, the mother does not desert
them. Patiently she keeps watch over
the nest in which they lie, never allow
ing that mound Of sand to be long out
of her sight How she knows exactly
when the little folk are ready, like the
emancipated chicken, to step out Of their
shells and take their first peep at the
world, who shall say? But, all the same,
it is a fact that, however far afield her
excursions may previously have been,
the day and the hour of that happy
event in her family circle find her on
the spot ready to gather the little ones
under her wing, as it were, and lead
them to their future home in the water
that lies before them.
This watchful care the mother con.
tinues until her babies are old enough to-
forage for themselves and their scales
are firm enough to enable them to dis
pense with her protection. The extent
to which the young alligators or croco.
dies require this watchful care can
hardly be realized by those that are not
familiar with their habits, for the little
ones are terribly prosecuted by birds and
beasts and even by their kinsmen, the
bull alligators, which sometimes eat a
dozen or two of their own children at o
meal. The mother OH such occasions
has been known to turn and fight the
unnatural monsters with such fury as to
put them to flight. 1t is not only the
bull alligator that she will attack when
alarmed for the safety of her young-she
often holds the most experienced hunt
ers at bay until her little charges have
timo to flee to place Of safety.
The sight presented by the mother,
surrounded and followed by a whole
brood Of her little ones, is pleasing
one, but let an enemy come in view and
the scene ceases to be pleasant. In tho
twinkling Of an eye the little ones dash
away into the mysterious shadows, and
the placid mother becomes transformed
into q raging fury, fairly churning the
quiet waters into waves in her mad rush
to do battle with the intruders Without
this incentive of maternal affection,
however, it is but seldom that an alli-
gator or crocodile attacks human be.
ing
The lower animals are less fortunate.
Cattle in the far south, where the open
ranges and shallow waters extend
tempting invitation to roam, are some
times seen with shortened tails, an alb
breviation for which the willy alligator
is responsible. Pigs roofing too near the
waters edge and unobservant of the log
like form lying cl9se at their side are
often caught by a lightninglike sweep Of
the alligator's formidable tail.
But the most cherished of all tidbits
to an alligator is nice, plump dog.
The saurians peculiar attraction toward
this animal is so well known to hunters
that they frequently initiate the yelp Of
a dog to enticc their prey within range,
and the call never fails Of its purpose.
The squeal Of a pig is almost as otfec.
tive.
These dainty bits, however, are rath-
Ell in the line of luxrries. For steady,
everyday diet the alligator depends up
Oh fish, and it haunts those localities in
rivers or lakes where its natural prey
most abounds. 1t catches the fish by
diving swiftly under passing shoal
and snatching two or three in its open
jaws as it passes Though the shoaL
Then, rising to the surface, it losses
them in the air, for the pulr.)se of eject
ing the water that has entol I'd its mouth
along with the fish, aud ad. oitly catches
them in their descent. -Heaon Harcourt
in Philadelphia Times.
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latitude of Tint.
She colored deeply.
| \ girl in nm ordinary story .Cou1d