The Opelousas courier., 1898-04-16
TOLD OF THE ALLIGATOR.
HIS FRUGAL FARE AND LONG SLEEP
IN WINTER QUARTERS.

IN WINTER QUARTERS.
Another Hibernator That Gets Along
Without Breathing Ability of thu Sauri-
ans to Go Without Food Their Most
Vulnerable Points.
Commenting on an article in the
New York Sun concerning hibernat-
ing animals, an old South Carolina
hunter, and consequently a close stu
dent of natural history, remarked that
the naturalist who was quoted had
omitted the greatest hibernator of
them all-the alligator.
"The alligator" he said, sis GER
tain!y II of the most remarkable of
all h~ibernators, in fact, perhaps the
most remarkable. 1t is the only N
phibious animal I recall belonging to
that class, and if it is a fact. as stated
by the naturalist in the Sun, that all
the animals he mentions begin their
long winters sleep on empty stom-
achs, the alligator is the exception to
the rule. With the fl st black frost
thousands of these hidt>ns creatures,
from the ~twelve-inch yellow and Dl..h
yearlings OF the pretious springs
Matching to the sixteen-foot monsters
that can pull down a horse, retire for
the winter. Alligators abound in salt
and fresh water rivers as far up as
tide water extends, and in the ad-
jacent inland swamps from North
Carolina to the Gulf. While they may
wander many miles during the sum
mer from the spot of high land where
in the spring the hinge nest of the fe-
male was made and the bushel of eggs
laid for the sun to hatch, in the fall
the alligators return thither. Near
their nest is their hole.
"These holes are sometimes, if the
saurian is an inhabitant of an inland
swamp, dug like a we'll in some wood,
but more often the mouth of the hole
is beneath the surface of the water,
the excavation extending under the
bank. With his powerful feet and
claws the alligator digs almost straight
down from eight to twelve feet; he
then makes a horizontal passage for
some distance and finally takes an up
ward turn, coming to within a short
distance of the surface of the earth
and above the level of water in the
swamp or marsh where he may be.
now prepares a place sufficiently
for him to lie at full length out
the water. Here it is that he takes
his long winters sleep, and as no air
penetrate to that point, he must
do without breathing.
"But the alligator does not go to
bed on an empty stomach. Nature
requires something to be in his stom-
ach, but nothing in the way Of ordi-
nary food-not even the leg of horse
or a whole hound would last for many
days. SO for the sake of comfort his
'gatorship swallows a piece of wood.
Almost anything Of suitable size will
answer the purpose, but the most
palatable tid-bit in this section seems
to be a lightwood knot. Alligators
have been killed in the early spring
with remains of one Of these knots in
their stomachs beautifully polished.
The animal probably takes in this
hard substance just to stay his stom-
ach, for it a probably live longer
without food, even in its active state,
than any other creature. There are
some of them authenticated,
to show his remarkable powers
this direction. A hunter catching
4 small one in the woods while the,
alligator was making his way from
one pond to another, cut q slit in the
tail, and. passing a rope through it
put the other end over a limb and
hauled the alligator up in lynching
style until his head was several feet
rom the ground. The captor intend
I'd to return for his prize the next
lay, but something interfered. Sever
Il months afterward he passed that
way and was astonished to find the
creature still alive.
Gin another case one summer all
alligator about four feet long was
near a gentleman's house and
into al empty barrel, where
le was forgotten. The next spring,
II eight months after, the barrel was
overturned and the gator brought to
light. He was not only alive, but had
grown about six inches. He had
grown, however, in the curved shape
If the bottom of the barrel. His tail
ust reached to his mouth, and he
could only lun in a circle, presenting
he most ludicrous spectacle. In a
week or two the back became some
what less rigid, and the gator was set
It liberty.
'While on the subject of alligators
ct me contradict a statement I have
'een in print dozens of times. In
act, so invariably does it accompany
n alligator story that I am led to
loubt whether the authors have ever
hot n Of the creatures. The eye is
lot the only vulnerable point. If it
vas very few would ever be killed.
The eye is small and presents a poor,
ndistinct target. It is doubtful il,
With the best sporting rife made, with
he usual open sights, the finest shot
IN earth could hit an alligator's eye
than once in ten times atforty
offhand. The difficulty abont
Killing alligators is that they must, if
hot in the head, be hit in the brain,
md the brain is exceedingly small for
he size of the animal about as large
IS the palm of ones hand-and high
Up in the head. A load of buckshot
ired at an alligator, aimed to strike
between the eyes, will, if the shooter
s on anything like a horizontal line,
off as from a steel plate. II