The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-05-29


easily gratified, but the great saurian is
comparatively rare nowadays along the
older routes of travel. This is due partly
20 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 ill the dense Businesses Of the in
land swamps and everglades that ALI
gators may be seen in great numbers on
a bright day, basking i'll 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 the sand
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-
tlnues alternate layers until the nest
contains from 80 to 40 eggs. AS the hole
is rarely deep enough to hold all these,
Fhe result is Il decided mound easily de-
ected by the experienced hunter, who
inds ready sale for the eggs as curiosi-
lnes. They are white, hard shelled and
'ather larger than a hens egg. If he
prefers to await their Matching, he Sc
lures fine lot Of little alligators. for
which also there is always a 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 i'll which they lie, never allow.
ing that mound of sand to he long out
lof her sight. How she knows exactly
when the little folk are ready, like the
iemancipated chicken, to step out of their
shells and take their first peep at the
world, who shall say? But, all the same,
1t is fact that, however far aficld her
excursions may previously have been.
the day and the hour of that happy
event i'll 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.
IhlS 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-
diles 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 alhgators which sometimes eat Il
dozen or two of their own children at a
meal. The mother on such occasions
has been known TO turn and fight the
unnatural monsters with such f,.ry 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 ut bay until her little charges have
time to flee to place of safety
The sight presented by the mother.
surrounded and followed by whole
brood of her little ones, is pleasing
one, but let an enemy come i'll view and
the scene ceases to be pleasant. In the
twlnkling OF an eye the little ones dash
away into the mysterious shadows. and
the placid mother becomes transformed
INTO raging fury, fairly churning the
quiet waters into waves in her mad rush
70 do battle with the intruders. Without
this incentive of maternal affection.
however, 1t Is but seldom that an ALI
gator or Il crocodile attacks a human be.
ing.
The. lower animals are less fortunate
Cattle i'll the far SOUTH where the open
ranges and shallow waters extend u
tempting invitation to roam, are some
1. l..
breviation for which the willy alligator
is responsible. Pigs roofing too near the
waters edge and unobservant of the log
like form lying close at their side are
often caught by Il lightninglike sweep of
the alligator's formidable tail.
But the most cherished of all tidbits
to an alligator is nice, plump dog.
The saurlan peculiar attraction toward
this animal is so well known TO hunters
that they frequently initiate the velp Of
dog TO enticc their prey within rance.
and the call never fails of is uurpcs,.
The squeal of a pig Is almost as cil,r-
tive.
These dainty bits however. are rath-
er III the line of luXuries For u steady.
everyday diet the alligator depends ~.
on fish, and it haunts those localities i'm
rivers or lakes where It's natural prev
most abounds. 1t catches the fish nv
diving swiftly under passing shoal
and snatching two or three in its open
jaws as it passes through the shoal.
Then, rising to the surface, it tosses
them III the air, for the purpose of eject
ing the water that has entered its month
along with the fish, and adroitly catches
them in their descent.-Helen Harcourt
III Philadelphia Times.