William B. Hartley

2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

The Alligator: King of the Wilderness by William and Ellen Hartley (1st ed. 1977) 175 pages.

3-1/2 stars rounded up

Most Americans of an earlier period were greedy and often cruel to all wild animals. They probably still are, but it is not as obvious since there are fewer wild animals available to be injured, mutilated, or killed. p. 86)

This is mostly what you will find in this book…activists…a husband and wife team. They do, however, make their points valid in this easy and interesting read that is not all about the politics.

Years between 1955 and 1965, alligators were nearly wiped out for their hides. The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 was passed, protecting many creatures, including the alligator, except from poachers. So, a stronger act was passed in 1973.

Alligator hunting had become completely illegal in the early seventies, trying to eliminate or control poaching. You couldn’t even sell alligator products or ship it to other states. But, somehow poachers would still find ways to smuggle and ship hides to France and Japan, where they were just as highly prized. If caught, you were facing a year in jail and a $20,000 fine. Today, gators are off the endangered list and now considered on the “threatened” list of animals and can be hunted on very limited and strict guidelines set by each state. And because of alligator farms that popped up in the ‘70’s, you can now buy the heads for home decor, wear alligator boots, purses, etc., and even eat it in restaurants and purchase some gator tail in some meat markets.

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2023 Alligator Hunting Laws, Rules and regulations from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) :

Any hunting license, except for non-resident turkey or bird license, may be used to hunt alligators in Orange County, Texas, but you can only hunt a 1/2 hour before sunrise to sunset. And only gators on private property can be killed.

Open season for alligator hunting in and around my county in Southeast Texas, which is considered a core county (meaning prime historical habitat for the American alligator), is September 10-30. You must have a CITES tag for every gator you kill, issued from the private property owner where you are hunting. Firearms are not allowed. There are many strict rules for line setting, which only one per person is allowed and, of course, it must be on private property. The line has to be marked with your full name, address and hunting license number. It can’t be set a day before open season and must be removed by sunset on the last day. Lines have to be inspected daily, and alligators removed and tagged.

In other non-core counties not on the core list, open season is from April 1-June 30. You are allowed to hunt with firearms. You are allowed one alligator per person per license year. You must immediately affix a Wildlife Resource Document (WRD), which can be filled out online. Then, fill out the Non-Core Alligator Hide Tag Report (PDF format online), and, along with a $21.00 check, mail to TPWD in Austin, who will send you a CITES tag to place permanently 10” from the tip of the alligator tail.

Only lawfully harvested alligators can be sold, and sold only to licensed wholesale dealers or alligator farmers. It is against the law to shoot an alligator from in, on, across or over public water.

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It doesn’t seem like anything has ever been definitively proven about the habits of alligators as of the printing of this book in 1977. There were so many disagreements on even the minor points. Where one person might say one thing, another believes the opposite…throughout the whole book. So, I would say this book is probably outdated. Surely, they’ve learned a thing or two by now…46 years later.

The one thing that is proving true is with, even back in the ’70’s, as more and more people moved to Florida, and farmlands kept creeping just inches from the Everglades, dams being built to stop flooding for farmers, and many other changes to the little creeks and rivers and jungles being wiped out for new development, the Florida Everglades has changed a lot, endangering many animal and fish species. They were worried back then, how about now?

1970 Florida population - 6,789,443
2022 Florida population - 22,244,823


NOTES ON THE AMERICAN ALLIGATOR

Pro: Alligators build small ponds (holes) about 30 feet wide with their tails. These become lifesavers and homes for fish, birds and other wildlife during years of drought. A specific tiny one-inch fish, the gambusia, eat mosquito wrigglers. In turn, birds and larger fish feed off the gambusia.

Crocodiles have long, pointed noses, and when their mouths are shut, you can see their lower fourth tooth jutting out. They are more aggressive than the ‘gator. But, you won’t see hardly any, if any at all, here in the U.S….possibly just a few down at the tip of Florida…and that was back in 1970’s.

Alligators have broad and blunt nose and smooth belly scales. Caimans, are only found in Mexico and South America. They are just a little different from ‘gators, have warty bumps on their belly and have brown or greenish bands around its tail. The spectacled caiman has a bony ridge between his eyes.

True alligators are only found in the U.S. and China. The Chinese alligator only grows to five feet long, and was either extinct or close to being extinct at the printing of this book in 1977.

That leaves the American alligator, which males grow upwards from 10-15 feet long and females up to 8 feet. They live up to 50 years. They are very territorial, except when raised on alligator farms where they are separated by size and very well fed. Each male will usually have a one mile territory, with about a half dozen females out and about in the area.

They are nocturnal, preferring to hunt and eat at night, beginning at dusk. That’s when Sharon Holmes was swimming (see story below). And you can always spot a lurking gator by shining a light. If you see two red ruby devil eyes glowering at you, then there’s no mistaken, run or swim for your life...and good luck. Early spring is mating season. You just don’t want to be anywhere near gators during this time. They are more aggressive!

If calm, alligators can stay under water anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. If struggling, or fighting, they can die pretty quickly, in just a few minutes, just like any human-being who might be panicking under water. Gators can swim up to 15 miles per hour and run 35 miles per hour in short distances. They have thin lids that close over their eyes when swimming under water. But, still can’t see very well in mucky brown waters. It is believed they respond to vibrations, just as a shark does.

The author pulled some interesting abstracts and quotes from miscellaneous quarterlies and bulletins from earlier explorers, as early as 1564, describing their experiences with alligators, some utterly ridiculous, saying ‘gators prefer black people over white’. Ha! My gosh! Another guy wrote that when he witnessed two large male gators fighting, he saw clouds of smoke coming from their nostrils. Ha! Never happened!

It appears the study of gators was still inconclusive at the time this book was published. There were still a lot of unknowns regarding the gator.

THE SHARON HOLMES STORY

In 1973, 16-year-old Sharon Holmes was pulled under the water at Oscar Scherer State Park and killed by a 10-foot alligator. Her father swam out to her and grabbed her by her hair but was unable to pull her free. Some hours later, they found her mutilated body on the shore of the lake with a 10-foot ‘gator standing guard. (p. 44)

See a newspaper photo of Sharon and burial info online at Find a Grave:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143573859/sharon-elaine-holmes

SIDE NOTES

The expression “crocodile tears” comes from a long ago legend of people believing they saw tears and sorrow in the crocs eyes as he gulped down its victim. Gators and crocs have glands that make their eyes water when their mouth is full. So, those are fake tears.

Florida’s Tamiami Trail (pronounced Tam-ee-am-ee) is a state highway, completed in 1928, that crosses through the Everglades connecting Miami and Naples. Before then, to get from west to east coast, or east to west coast, one had to travel by boat around Key West.

Beware of the manchineel trees, which are very poisonous and found in the Florida Everglades. They will usually have a red ring painted on the trunk as warnings. Their white sap causes blisters. They also produce little green poisonous apples. (p. 14)

Okefenokee Swamp Park & Adventures website:
https://okeswamp.org

Sarasota Jungle Gardens
https://sarasotajunglegardens.com… (más)