The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-08
NATURAL HISTORY or ALLIGAToRs
From the Egg to the scaIy Monster
of a Florida swamp.

of "a Florida swamp.
Helen Harcourt. In Philadelphia Times
One Of the sights most eargerly watched
for by the new-arrlved Florida visitor
as he glides over the lakes and rivers Of
that genial land, Is the alligator. A few
years ago this desire was easily gratihed
but the great saur.an is compare lively
rare nowadays along the older routes Of
travel. This Is due partly TO the bullets
and traps of the more legitimate aliiga-
tor hunter, who finds in that pursuit the
chief means Of support for himself and
family.
1t is In the dense Businesses Of the in
land swamps and everglades that aili-
gators may be seen in great numbers on a
bright day, basking in the sunshine They
are gregariOus and love to assemble In
such places, where they bring their two
rows of strong teeth together with pro-
digious clatter and roar with a noise that
resembles thunder.
The female makes her nest In the sand
near the waters edge, scraping a hole
with her paws and dropping the eggs In
a regular layer. Then she scrapes the
grass. leaves, mud and sand over them,
on these places another layer, and SC. con-
tinues alternate layers until the nest con-
tains from thirty to forty eggs. AS the
hole is rarely deep enough to hold all
these, the result Is decided mound easily
detected by the experienced hunter, who
finds ready sale for the eggs as curiosl-
ties. They are white, hard-shelled and
rather larger than hens egg. If he
prefers 10 wait for their Matching he Sc
cures a fine lot of little alliRatorB for
which also there Is always a ready sale.
While she thus leaves her prospective
children to the doubtful guardianship cf
the earth the mother does not desert them.
Patiently she keeps watch over the nest In
which they lie never allowing 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 say5
But all the same 1t Is fact that, how
ever far afield her excursions may pre-
viously have been, the day and the hour
Of that happy event in her family circle
finds her on the spot, ready to gather the
little ones under her wing, as IL were,
and lead them TO their future home in the
water that lies before them.
Th4g watchful care the mother continues
until her babies are old enough to forage
for themselves and their scales are firm
enough to enable them to dispense with
her protection. The extent to which the
young alligators, or crocodiles, require
this watchful care can hardly be realized
by those that are not familiar with their
habits, for the little ones are terribly per.
secuted by birds and beasts, and even by
their kinSmen the bull aliigators, which
sometimes eat dozen or two of their
own children al meal The mother, on
such occasions, has been known to turn
and fight the unnatural monsters with
such fury as to put them to flight. II Is
not only the bull alligator that she will
attack when alarmed for the safety of
her young; she often holds the most expe-
rienced hunters at bay until her little
CHARGES have had time to flee to a place
of safety.
The sight presented by the mother, sur
rounded and followed by a whole brood
OF her little ones, is a pleasing one, but
let an enemy come In view and the scene
ceases to be pleasant. In the twinkling
Of an eye the little ones dash away into
the mysterious shadows, and the placid
mother becomes transformed into a rag
ing fury, fairly churning the quiet waters
INTO waves IN ner mad rush TO do battle
with the intruders. Without this incent-
i've Of maternal affection, however, Il is
but seldom that an alligator or d crocodile
attacks human being.
The lower animals are less fortunate
Cattle In the far south, where the open
ranges and shallow waters extend a
tempting invitation to roam, are some
times seen with shortened tails an alb
breYiation for which the willy alligator
is responsible. Pigs roofing too near the
waters edge, and unobserving7 Of the
log-like form lying close at their side
are often caught % ightning-Rke
sweep Of the alligator's formidable tail
But the most cherished Of all tid-bits to
an alligator Is NICE plump dog. The
animal is 50 well known to hunters that
they frequently initiate the yelp OF a dog
to enttce their prey within range. and the
call never fails of its purpose. The
squeal Of a pig is almost as effective
These dainty bits, however, are rather
in the line Of luxuries; for a steady, ev-
eryday diet the alligator depends upon
fish, and II haunts those localities IN
rivers or lakes where its natural prey
most abounds. II catches the fish bv
diving swiftly under a passing shoal and
snatching two or three In its open Jaws
as II passes through the shoal Then,
the air, for the purpose of ejecting the
water that has entered It's mouth along
with the fish, and adroitly catches them
in their descent