Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-03-04
TOLD OF THE ALLIGATOR
HIS FRUGAL FARE AND LONG SLEEP
IN WINTER QUARTERS,

hhH w TO without Rood lhcir Most
Vulnerable Points.
Commenting ON an article in the
? New York sun concerning hihernat-
ing animals, an old South Carolina
hunter, and consequently close stu.
dent of natural history, remarked that
the naturalist who was quoted had
omitted the greatest hihernator Of
them all-thc alligator.
"The alligator" he said, lis Ger.
tainly one of the most remarkable of
all hlhernators, i'll fact, perhaps the
most remarkable. Ii is the only am
phibious animal recall belonging Ia
that class, and IL II is fact, IA 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 tn
the rule. With the first black frost
thousands of these hideous creatures,
from the twelve-inch yellow and black
yearlings of the previous springs
Matching to the sixteen.foot monsters
that can pull down horse, retire for
the winter. Alligators abound in salt
and fresh water rivers ns far M as
tide water extends, and in the adj
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 huge nest of the fc.
male was made and the bushcl of eggs
laid for the sun To hatch, III the fall
the alligators return thithcr. Near
their nest is their hole
"rhese holes are sometimes, il the
sauran is an inhabitant of m inland
swamp, dug like well 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 horizontal passage for
some distance and finally takes an up
ward turn, coming to within short
distance Of the surface Of the earth
and above the level Of water in the
swamp or marsh where he may he.
He now prepares II place sufficiently
large for hln to lie at full length out
of the water. Here il is TINT he takes
his long winters sleep, aud IA no mir
can penetrate to that point, lie must
do without breathing.
''But the alligator does no. 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 n whole hound would last for many
days So for the sake of comfort his
'gatorship swallows II piece Of wood.
Almost anything of suitable size will
answer the purpose, but the most
palntable tid.bit in this section seems
to he 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 can probably live longer
without food, even in its active state,
than any other creature. There ARE
stories, some Of them authenticated, |
going to show his remarkable powers
in this direction. A hunter catching |
n small one in the woods while the
alligator was making his way from
one pond to another, cut a slit in the
tail, and passing rope through IL
put the other end over n limb and
hauled the alligator up in lynching
style until his head was several feet
from the ground. The captor intend
ed to return for his prize the next
day, but something interfered. Sever
al months afterward he passed that
way aud was astonished to find the
creature still alive.
SIN another case one summer an
alligator about four feet long was
caught near gentleman's house and
thrown into an empty barrel, where
he was forgotten. The next spring,
or 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
Df the bottom OF the barrel. His tail
just reached to his mouth, and he
could only run in circle, presenting
the most ludicrous spectacle In u
week or two the back became some
what less rigid, and the gator was set
1t liberty.
"While on the subject Of alligators
ct me contradict statement | have
'een in print dozens of times. In
act, so invariably does il accompany
IN alligator story that / am led to
loubt whether the authors have ever
hot one Of the creatures. The eye is
lot the only vulnerable point. II it
vas very few wonld ever be killed.
The eye is small and presents a poor,
ndistinct target. II is doubtful il,