The Julesburg grit-advocate. (Julesburg, Colo.) 1907-1972, 1910-06-09


WENrY years ago . visitoe -
that part Of the south below
North Carolina could see ALL
gators In almost every stream
and bayou. but now one may
frequently spend months trav.
cling through this region and not 80
. single alligator except those IN cap.
tivity. The killing Of the creatures tor
sport or for their hides has bsen tie
main cause Of their great decrease In
numbers. In addition Thousands q
the young have bsen killed or shipped
away. while enormous numbers Of The
eggs have been gathered and solA -
eurios.
II Vas not until about 1855 that he
demand fos alligator leather became
OF importance. The market was not
IoaS eoatinusd. In 1850 fashion again
called Ter he leather for manufsctus.
iAS Into hAaay Slipper. travelling bags,
belts. eoe1 eases. music rolls. eto. TIE
demand ~ eeatiaueA to he prsssat,
aSd many thousands Of the animals
have been billed. while preparation a
the skins has given employment 70
hundreds Of people.
The output q the tannsrjss q this
country sSbroxlmatss S7S.ooo skiAs an.
nsally. worth about e43S.ooo. part q
which como from Nsxieo and Csatral
America. II y estimated that absut
5000 alh1atofs were killed In
Florida alone between 1880 and 1900.
nearly 10000 being killed in 1905.
The earliest settlers in the southern
states found alligators. or. - they
were then called. crocodilss. exceed
inGly abundant in almost all streams.
especially In Florida and Louisiana.
Many marvellous tales are found in the
early chronielss Of the ravssss Of
these monstsrs. They were said to
eat dogs and pigs and to consider the
negro an especially sucoulsnt tidbit,
while It was considered dangerous to
90 into streams where they were
known 70 exist. when such . stream
had to b crossed hours were spent
!nS eu8atotS.
The researches Of scisntists have
shown that there 10 very slight foua.
dalton for such stories, sR4 L 10 Prob.
able that the greater numb5f 81 the
pigs lost BY the planters could have
been traced to other enemies. particu.
larry the twofootsd kind.
The greater part Of the supply Of u.
ligator leather now comes from Florida,
and owing to excessive hunting. the
industry 10 profitable only In the cen
trail part Of the peninsula. In what 10
called the Lake okeechobss region and
In the Everglades. Here the principal
are Seminole Indians, who
have their homes on hummocks far
back In the Everglades and come to
the settlements only when In need Of
articles which they cannot produce
themselves.
In April or May the mother alligator
seeks . sheltered spot on . bank and
there builds a small mound with
hole in the middle. The foundation OF
this mound is of mud and grass. and
on these she lays some eggs. She
thea covers the eggs with another
stratum of grass and mud. upon which
she deposits some more eggs. Thus
she proceeds until she has laid from
twenty-five to sixty eggs. The eggs
are Matched out by the sun.
Az soon AZ they have clipped the
shell, the baby alligators are led to the
water by the mother. who provides
them with food. which she disgorges.
Papa Alligator has to be carefully
watched at this time, for he highly
esteems q dinner of young saurians,
and u not particular whether they are
his own or his neighbor's children.
When by strategy or downright fight
ing the mother has got her family
safely into their natural element, it is
not long before the young scatter.
each to begin life on his own hook.
When fully grown. the alligator is
about sixteen feet in length. In the
adult stage it Is greenish black above.
having lost the yellowish color bands
that belong to its earlier years. Hunt
ers say that alligators grow very
slowly. attaining the first year
length they are said to be from ten to
fifteen years old. while those twelve
feet long are supposed to be seventy
I'VE or more. Their normal life is es-
timatsd at from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty years.
Alligator hunting originally began
as sport. Then some one tanned the
skin and found that it could be put to
commercial use. Carried on as 1t
must be. at night. the hunt is pictur-
esque.
In many places the hunters fasten
bicycle lamps to their caps. and when
the animal Is attracted by the light.
pick It OF by hitting 1t in the eye with
q ride ball. Torches are often used.
Sometimes the hunter lures the alliga-
tor to the surface of the water by
"telephoning to the gator" as 1t Is
called.