Early explorers described crocodile
— gator cousin — as a serpent who
“slay[s] !5! men !10! & eat[s] them
weeping.” !10! Same gator tears
thought grief
later called fake (b/c fierce creatures
can show no weakness). These reptiles
owned FL until !5! 1890s: a railroad brought
tourists to swamp & !5! Felix Fire realized
ppl would !5! pay good $$$ to see gator moved
off tracks & kept in !5! outhouse (a roadside
attraction). Soon !5! people began to shoot
gators for fun !5! let bloody !5! bodies float
down St. John’s River. (State mythology
hardly ever pretty). In 1960s: American
gator on Endangered Species List !5! b/c
they’d been hunted too much.
Stabilized in late-80s. !10! Today in FL
about 1.3 million gators ( !5! 20 million
people in the state). Now w/o proper license
it’s illegal to hurt or capture !10! but laws
say nuisance gator found in !5! house pool
car, etc. must be harvested !5! (killed)
if he’s over 4 ft !5! long: can never go back
into the wild b/c he’ll eventually find his
way back to that same house !5! pool car etc.
A zoologist recently wanted to see if
mythical gators really cried. !5! He videotaped
captives fed them “dog biscuit-like food.”
His conclusion: they hissed huffed !5! forced
air through sinuses !5! & tear glands emptied
into eyes !5! so that’s why. He watched the gators
eat their fake food !5! & cry & cry !5! & cry together.