The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-12-10
ALLIGATOR MIMICS.
Row Swamp Rangers Cali and Capture
the Reptiles.

The Believing Season and the Flights
of the minated BulIs--How Nests
Are Built and Eggs Hatched-Ec-
cuIiar Habits of Feeding.
The alligator is rapidly disappearing in
the settled regions of Florida and becom-
Ing scarcer every day even in such remote
regions as the Everglades, owing to the
war of determination waged agalnsG IL by
hide hunters, taxidermists and deftlers IN
euriosities. These pursue it night and day
wear in and year out The little ginger
liz gs lust out of the nest are in great de-
IN d. as they are worth from ~ to 81
per hundred in the local markets. The
E'curio'' dealers who purchase the M often
resell them at 81 each to northern slsltors,
or else they kill and stuff them 1 alto card
plates, cigar holders or whatever Ase their
FANCY suggests and dispose OF them at
good prices. The young are II squently
lured from their lurking places loy poor
i'm itation Of tho grunts of theil. mother,
an d men expert, in mim1eking her may
,,ae,, t,1re q large number in day. as they
,,sly, md promptly to the calls anfI pour out
If caA titles In hot haste to see the caller.
Ibe n, ost expert gator caller fs' I ever
lTre,q ,s-ere swamp rangers, 10th white
ond black. who were born and l,red within
a ehart SIisl anee of an alligat or swamp,
and therefore knew every in donation of
tha sa,,4.i.a.,' s voice. These men could make
q noatron charge wildly at th en- across a
h,oe4 ss~eaul by initiating the frightened
cries Of her young or lure decrepit old
hulI bv mirnicking the gruIits of the fe-
male They could in fact delude both old
and voune and often earned good sums
by their art.
and 1asts until the nuiddle of July, and
during that time the usnmated bulls make
night hideous. In fighting each other they
use iayg and tail with the utmost fury.
rTbey must deliver exceedingly heavy
blows with the latter, for the sounds can
ba heard at a considerable distance. When
one gets a good mouth hold on the other,
1t cIfngs like a bulldog, bat as the body
arnor is generally toothpa'oof, except in
suecial places, little damage can be done
even in a protracted conflict.
AS the reptiles can only deliver blows at
objects a IittEe TO one side OF THE head, it is
amusing to see them try to get directly in
front of each other and MAKE circular
svveens with the tail in the blind hope that
some may prove effective. l nave known
them to fight fois hours at; intervals with
bull retreat in a most demorallzed manner
after receiving fesw blows
When the female is ready to lay her
eocs. she retires to some secluded wet or
sSvamny place and Iruilds out of mud, de-
caved vegetation and rushes nest two or
three feet high and having large, firm
hasa If she builds on tideWater, she car
yies her nest farther blackstone years
more than oshers-as If she knew when
tides would be unusually high, and the
strangest part of it is that, as rule, high
nests and high tides so together. The
receptacle for the eggs is deep and spacious
and well made. She layys from 30 to 100
eggs in this, usually iii July, covering
them with light, loose material to give
the Young when Matched plenty of room,
and makes the upper part solid by beating
with her head and walking over it several
times to trample it down. She frequently
walks over it while the eggs are incubat-
:ng. in order to keep it packed, for Ii 1t be-
came loose the rain would enter and pre-
vent the eggs from Matching
It usually takes 60 days for the young
TO appear, and she evidently knows the
hour they should announce their presence,
for she keeps passing around the nest the
day when they are expected, becomes nerv-
GUS, usually irritable, and SO pugnaclous
that she is ready to fight nything from
mole to man that approaches her nursery
On hearing the young give their first faint
croak she begins tearing away the covering
with claws and jaws, and on reaching
them give several endearing grunts, then
proudly leads them to her cave in the
swamp, stream OF lake close by. From
that moment forward she must vigilantly
watch her progeny to prevent them from
being destroyed by enemies, for everything
that eats flesh seems to prey upon them
Fishes, snakes, owls, hawks, polecaUs ana
turtles deyour them whenever they can,
Init their worst foes are the bull alligators,
for they destroy them out of mere wanton-
ness !,
One of the peouliarities of the eggs OF
an alligator is that they are generally oil
different shapes, although the ends are al
WAYS alike. They are about ~ inches in
diameter, and the ordinary length OF the
newly Matched youngsters is four inches.
These do not eat any food for several days
after leaving the nest and make begin
ming on larvae, water insects and frogs,
gradually advancing to snakes, fishes and
finally to anything edible. They cannot
eat food that requires tearing apart, owing
to the bluntness and irregularity of their
teeth. An adult saurian possesses 80
teeth. IL it has not lost any by accident,
and no two are Of the same size and shape
except those opposite each other. That is
why it cannot tear fresh flesh and must
allow it to putrefy before it can be eaten.
The teeth are hollow, yet strong, and are
shed every year, SO that the loss Of few
in contest produces no permanent in
Jury. Both old and young catch their prey
by lying in wait for it and striking it sud
denly with the tail when it approaches
near enough to be hit. Mouth and tail
work automatically together, for the caudal
blow promptly knocks the prey into the
distended, awaiting jaws. That given, the
saurian backs off into deep water and be-
gins rolling over and over like a barrel
or spinning round and round in a circle
for the purTsere of suffocating it's captive
Il n II IL - IE