The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-09-15
ALLIGATOR JOE TELLS
OF SAURIAN SINGERS.
Expert Handler of Reptiles
Relates Some of His
Observations.
From Leslie's Weekly.

Wnen all their qualities are known, but
because OF their unsociable nature IL
axes considerable time to become
thoroughly acquainted with one For
instance, nearly every American has.
at n time or another. seen an alliga-
tor in a park zoo or a travelling menag-
erie; yet 1t is saft to wager that not
more than one out of many thousands,
even among the keepers of the ZOOS
and the showmen who are with their
charges constantly, knows hat all al
ligator can sing. After an intimate ac-
Iuaintance with two baby alligators
now three years old, and which l con-
slider entirely civilized, the fact that
they possess this accomplishment is
surprising news. Nevertheless it is
true, for there is no better authority
On alligators in this country n Jo-
seph Warren Frazee, alias Alligator
Joe, who has lived all his life among
them and for 33 years has made his
living by conducting an alligator farm.
Joe's home is not far from the mys-
FERROUS Everglades, in lower Florida.
AT the present time he Is one OF the
special attractions in Dreamland park.
Coney Island, where he has a minia-
ture alligator farm. with a stock of
over 1000 saurians which he exhibits
to visitors. II New Workers who visit
Drcamland go away ignorant about al
- ~ 10 iiOt kiiV lidtI vi IA u
teresting FloriGan. who is full of in
formation and is exceedingly good
natured hen requested to part with it.
~ alligator song is something
like this" explained Joe, as he threw
back his chin and emitted from his
throat ard half closed lips a peculiar,
flute like melody sounding more like
wind reeds than anything that | ear
think OF. only the old mes sing"
continued Joe. and they do it only
when they are entirely contcnted. After
n good meal one will crawl out on II
bank and, lying perfectly still under
the broiling sun, will sing for hours at
n stretch. Often in hunting for them
In the Everglades l have been attracted
by this noise, which is different from
anything else that I have ever heard"
BY initiating the ong Joe "a put an
entire den of alligators to sleep in less
than five minutes. There il apparent
~ something peculiarly hypnotic in the
melody, for by catching n lively young
reptile, turning him on his back and
making the sound with the mouth close
to the creatures throat, he will lie still.
apparently asleep, for many hours. un-
tess he is awakened.
AN ~alligator's nest is an interesting
thing" said Joe. wild alligators build
their nest on the bank Of q river or in
some marshy place. They arc made OF
mud, saw grass and leaves and mold.
They are sort of natural incubators,
for the eggs, which are laid from 35 to
SO in n nest 1T one time, are Matched
out by the steam which comes up
through the mud as much as by the
SUM-. Around the nest a pile OF grass
Is laid. sometimes as high as six feet,
and from a distance resembles Il stack
of hay. The mother gator has her den
near by. She makes it by burrowing
Into a bank of soft mud. and some
times it is 20 feet or more inland. The
only IA to get her oat OF a den like
that is to take a long steel rod and
thrust 1t down h tunnel, which is al
ways %slanting. When the gator feels
the prodding she will come out to see
what the trouble is. 1t takes alligator
eggs two months n six days TO hatch.
When the little ones come out the
mother calls them together by a noise
which is something between a cluck
and n grunt, and they all scramble
down from the nest to her den. If itsis
on the edge of a river, the den is filled
with minnows. AS the mother enters
the den she swishes her tail around
with terrific force, killing the smallest
fish, and when they float the little ALI
gators q them up.
"a mother alligator will sometimes
have four or FIVE dem and she TAX o
her DICol from n to another. repeat
ing the swishing process In each one
until the young ones have had a full
meal. After they are a month or two
ola they look out for themselves by
catching bugc, mosquitoes and flies. A
mother gator, unlike most mothers,
will claim every little gator in sight,
whether it is hers or not. Once. when
1 was hunting on the Keys. I saw a
mother and her brood coming down a
little stream. About 100 yards up. an
other one, with "a lot of little ones,
crawled out on the bank. Gators are
always ready for n fight and i'm a mo-
ment these two were at each other,
flashing the water and sending the little
ones flying in every direction. Their
huge mouths were locked together like
two ~clothespins and their tails were
Shaping at each other with enough
force to kill an elephant. After a fierce
battle, which continued for half an
hour or more, n mother was 8 70 Grip
pied that she could not swim and the
other mother made off with every
blessed young one.
"AIligators grow to be 1000 years old,
The oldest OH my farm at present is
Jerry, who came from the Nile river
n Is estimated to be 1,S46 years old.
After the hundredth year an alligator
is supposed to add one horn to his back
every year., and in this way their ages
are estimated. i nave thousands OF
baby a~llieators at my farm. They
measure about six inches in length and
! SCH them for souvenirs. The alliEa-
tor works his head and tail In perfect
harmony" continued Joe. 1T is his
ability to slap his @ and tail to-
gether like huge pinchers that causes
fear among trainers. 1t is In this way
that the alligator u his food. He
Crawls upon the bank, where the u
dries him out until he has the appear
ance of an old log, thus deceiving other
animals, which will approach him and
crawl over his body un~suspectingly.
When one does this, he throws his head
n tail together with lightning randi
ity and the victim is caught i'm q trap.
IAN alligator and n frog are the only
two creatures without gills that have
ever known to stay under water for
days at Il stretch without coming 10
the surface for air. 4 big alligator
can stay under water for five DAVIS
without once coming to the top. have
never heard 1t scientifically explained,
but my theory is that an alligator has
a sort Of air condenser in his interior.
When he breathes, the air goes through
his lungs and comes back to his throat
to be frcshened. An alligator can go
for many months without food. have
n at the present time that lost a
lower jaw in q battle with another, and
il seems to be as healthy now as 1t was
MANY months 100 alibnnob IL hou c,,t