The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-16
GATOR MAN IN LOUISIANA
HUNTING mo SAURIdNs NOW n
PROEIT4BLE INDUSTRY.

Cnn fnllOw ana Live-StraminG Haunts
of the AiIiKators in the Rvamps-skill
in the pursuit-The Alligator's Ways.
MoRrAUyrIyE. In. July 1.-THE "'Csaian. s.
or Acadian. Frenchmen NJ this neiRhborhood.
Who would rather hunt aightors than work in
tho cane fields. because there " more fun as
well as moro money in 1t. are able to mark the
decrease in the alligator industry OF Florida
and the Gull coast by the Increasing frequency
of the requests they receive from the makers
Of alligator leather who want hides. Ten years
ago che business Of killing altgators IN the in-
trnI lakes Of Louisiana was down to nothing.
Tho saurianS wor" not more plentiful In
Florida hut they were reached more ensly and
shipped out more cheaplv Consequently they
were doomed to earlier extinction. So many
hundreds Of hunters have been after them for
40 many years that now IN certain parts Of
Florida, where n decade ago alligators werc
enormously plentiful. there is none left at
all. In other pnrt- OF that state the individuals
which have survived the slaughter are so few
that IL IL scarcely worth while to hunt them.
There has been no decrease in the price OF
the leather Indeed. ~ the animals have be-
com" schrrcr there has been II slight rise in the
prices OF hides There il not much money to
he made III hunting them in Florida, however.
even at increased prices. The quarry is too in
frequent, II has been estimated that for n
space ~ ten wears alligatorS were worth
S2nO.OOO year to Florida. hut III" States row
enue from this source Will practically have
vanished by the beginning u tho next century.
There has been some talk Of preserving tho
alligators and breeding them for the value OF
their scalycON"rng,. but II Is not believed that
Twill ever lie done. 1t takes an alligator eight
yenrs TO attain a respectable growth and it will
continue to get bigger ur to the age ~ twenty
years. A man VINO had his capital invested in
an alligator farm would have to wait a long
time for returns ON his mouOy. Furthermore.
their successful culture would require an enOr-
nous body Of water, hot that they require
much space. but they do require great deal OF
food. and their fool is generally fish, frogs and
other small things Tint live in the water. An ali
gator will eat anything It ear bite and 1t can hite
anything except bar OF Hnrvrvzcd steel. but
feeding it artinrially would prove too c1ren-
stve Also, although 1t matches out from
twenty to fifty young Mt once. it has n cheerful
habit OF devourinG The little fellows AS soon as
they emerge from the ogg. This cannihalism
Is not confined to the males. The female will
eat her young with gusto Consequently tho
chicks make for the water as soon as they see
the light. and generally a dozen OF them man
age to get to tho weeds and slime while
their brothers and sisters are finding their
way down the rod and angry outlet OF
their ma. The appetite of the alligator
OF nature intended to prevent tho too rapid
Increase Of the tribe. But for this habit OF
infartirdo alligators in the wilder districts
would soon clean out almost all other forms OF
water life. The Young are exceedingly hardy.
and more than half OF them survive once they
are able to reach the shelter OF the water.
While the alligator breeds only once \ year. 1t
lays so many eggs to be Matched out in tho
warm sand that the race would increase despite
natural foes but for man. who seems To be the
only animal able to keep it in check
Alligators in this part OF Louisiana were
never hunted hard until recently. Now. owing
to letters from commission men in New Or
leans. the slaughter OF the saurians has be-
come n recognized industry and ono exceed
ingy pleasing TO the people engaged in 1t. The
'CaKian Is probably tho LATEST being In tho
world. That IL to say. he ia law II judged 10y
civilized standards. He would infinitely prefer
10 lie down in the road and starve to death TO
working half day between the handles OF =
plough. lie il perfectly willing. however. to
get into pirocue and hunt along the lagoons
or fab for a week. He calls this sport Conse-
duently. when he il hired to kill alligators or
goes out to kill them on his own account no
does not think he is laboring at all. There
are many lakes in this rart OF Louisiana
in which alligators are plentiful. These small
bodies Of water are far removed from the rail-
way lines and. indeed. their existence is not
known beyond tho nciehhorhood. In conse-
Quence tho market hunters have not invaded
them. They are still tho abiding places OF nil
lions Of wild fowls in the winter time and OF
allgatvrs nll the year round. These lakes are
not more than fifteen mi,os long by two wide
as n general thing. but some II them are very
deep and all OF them are rich In the various
forms of Southern tiSh-perch. bass Jacks and
cats. They lie deep In the hearts OF the cypress
Rwamps: often there is nothn. lik" a road
leading to them. AMI the alIiGators are safe from
any one save an inhahitant OF this region
man who has never experienced it cannot
imagine the temperature OF the air above ono
OF these wood lakes at this season Of the year.
The lake Is set into the ground like mirror.
and for dozens OF miles all around it grow tho
mossy woods composed OF trees centuries old
and standing so thickly that their branches in =
terock. Through these woods no breeze il
able to make ts way. The tops OF the huge
expresses and oaks may hc seen waving
smartly in the air, while at their base a feather
tossed in air viii fall "a straight to tina ground
as il It were of lead. uut in the centre II
the littIo lake. where the air has Il rhanrA
to swoOp down. thcr" 10 a faint ripple
made by the wind. but tho edges II it
are as still as looking glass. The sun pours
down into this watsry basin with an intensity
upon the thwart will show % degrees at the
moon hour. In addition To this temperature
the air is filled with humidity. 1t is 50 tho
summer through. Tho woolliest day that New
York ever saw ls the Kind 81 day that interior
Louisiana has always between April and OctO-
her. y white man unused to the country can 40
more live on the bosom 81 oneui these wooded
lakes on n July day than he could live in n fur
mace. He would have Sunstruke. or faint from
exhaustion and die inside oi two hours. The
'Cagan. however. likes il. 1t is his normal
temperature. lie has the savage woods loving
instincts Of an ancestry that has been in
America for more than three centuries. In
Variably he is under middle height. brown
weak muscled and very lean. His capacity n
Rttnd heat is unknown, and he is IT unduultcd
sktl with tn" rifle, the fishing rod aud with
the piroRu". Their" IS, in fact. no better hunter
His equipment for alligator killing is simple
He reuuir"s boat paddle, a Winchester ear
hue, bit OF rope with huge hook at ore end
OF il and a largo hunting knife This is fol-