The Brinkley argus., 1910-08-12

all1gatOrS make, TOT tneTS IS uO Soi ol
 food they love better than newly
 batched gator. The hunter takes a long. slender pole and lets one end ot it down very quietly into the water. The other end he places between his teeth and initiates the grunt of the
 baby gators The old fellows easily 1 hear the call and come up to feast on the babies they think are there.
 In catching them alive, hunters ire Guently lasso them while asleep on the bank or on log. When asleep in their holes in the mud they are occa- sionally drawn out py means of an ! iron hook. These holes are easily 1 found. Sometimes the grass is set afire and the animals lassoed as they 1 seek the water
 Alligators three feet and more in l length are generally killed at once and the hide removed. All of the hide ex- 1 cept the ridge of the back, which is very bony, is used. The hide is salted, and is then ill condition for sale to the buyers, who are usually storekeep- 1 CTS, who furnish provisions and am intuition in exchange.
 The hides range in value to the hunter from 20 cents for three-foot hide to $1.25 for a hide seven feet ol more or in length. The five and six foot hides are the most desirable, as the larger hides have hard piece of bone in the square checks on the hide, and 1t is impossible to sew through this. Nearly all of the tanning is done at Newark, N J.
 Young alligators are often brought in, and these are worth about eight cents apiece. The eggs are also gath cred, and sell for 2A cents each. They are mainly sold to curiO dealers, who either hatch them out or blow them and sell the shells Most of the small alligators are stuffed and sold as curios to tourists, who pay from 50 cents to two dollars apiece for them. Many oi them used to be shipped north alive by tourists as presents. Owing to ignorance as to how the ani- mai should be cared for, many of these soon died
 If properly cared for, the young alli- gator will thrive even in unnatural circumstances. It's main requirement is sufficient heat It's diet should con sist of bits of fresh meat, insects and worms They cften show great fond ness for the ordinary earthwornls, and will frequently refuse all food bu. these. The larger specimens in cap tivity wre fed about three times a week on fresh meat or small live ani- ilals. and they reqaire little attention other than this.
 ] Alligators' teeth, which are secured by burying the head until they have rotted out, are of fine ivory and val ued fors carving into ornaments. They are worth to the hunter, about two dol lars q round-from fifty to sevoaty-hve teeth. The dealers will not buy very many of them, as there is a, Knitted demand At one time, the paws were saved and mounted as curios, but it is impossible 10 do anything with them now
 ! Eoth iiesh and eggs are eaten by a 1 few persons, but it requires a very hardy stomach to stand the disagree able, husky odcr There is nothing Letter, hunters declare, than the tiI of the tail Of an alligator which has reached, say, the bullet period. t is creamy in pior, Asting little like /! fross.,, iar.t. N,.rt Aith :, ,,,o*o ,,ro nounced 9amy~ ~Kavor, juicy-altogethel tempting
 Alligator tails arc best at the tint Of the rice Lird seascn. The tis ali
 gators float ill the water with onl,
 thcir eye, showing. When an alliga
 tor gets near q flock of these fat, juic,
 little birds. it dives to the bottom It's long wide snout scoops up som,
 of the loan, and it floats to the eur
 face again with just the rich soil show ihg.
 The birds think 1t Is an island. The,
 alight on it. When the who.e family i.
 there, the big beast turns suddenly
 Just as the birds scramble off the al
 iigator opens it's mouth once. The,
 are gone
 The birds are neat little feeders
 and the alligator is an epicure at thi.
 time of the year. The rice bird die
 makes the tip of its tail tender ans sweet.
 It wit probably be news to man, that Florida has representative 0
 the crocodile family. This animal wa
 first supposed to be confined to tn,
 West Indies and South America, but i
 has been occasionally captured on tn,
 peninsula of Florida. It is easily dis tinguished from the alligator by it narrow snout. For many years sci
 entists were skeptical of reports fror : Florida of the appearance of this an , iual in that state, but the capture 0 ], several fine specimens in recent year
 has settled all doubt.