CATCHING ALLIGATORS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19798, 19 November 1927, Page 2 (Supplement)

CATCHING ALLIGATORS.

DEFT WORK BY NIGHT.

BUSY HOURS ON A LAKE. CURING OF THE HIDES. HUNTERS AND' THEIR WIVES. Killing and skinning alligators is the profession of Messrs Ernest McGee and August McGee and their wives, says a message from Eagle Lake, Texas. The hides are marketed for good prices. They arrived at Eagle - Lake a few weeks ago from a season of alligator hunting in Sabine lake and pitched their camp upon the shore of Cedar lake, near Bay City. During the first three nights of hunting the two men killed 163 alligators. Their wives do the skinning of the saurians, which measure from two feet to eight feet. ' The McGees hunt from boats on the lake each night, beginning as boon as it is daik They use a headlight Worn on their heads for making tho alligators' eyes shine They hunt in separate boats and can easily sight the eyes of an alligator, which look like two red coals of fire when the headlight is reflected on them. On the first night the hunters brought in sixty alligators "They use shotguns to kill the larger alligators and most of the smaller ones were killed with a small rifle. However, quite a number of the young alligators were captured without being wounded When the light is thrown on them the boat is rowed up to the saurian and the hunter reaches down and jerks it into tlie boat before it knows what it is all about. Then a sharp hatchet is applied to a spot in the back of the neck and it is all over with that alligator. A Busy Time for Women.

The two men spend most of the night out on the lake hunting. After they get back to camp and deposit their boat load of alligators on the bank, they put in the ..morning hours sleeping while their wives do tho alligatoi skinning, the hides being salted, carefully rolled and packed in boxes for shipping to market. Mrs. August McGee was busily engaged in alligator skinning when a visitor called at their camp. " No, it tsn't hard work," she answered in reply to a question. " It's fascinating when you know how to do it, and it can be done so easily that I really enjoy it. The knives have got to be sharp, but the men folk keep them in splendid shape for us." she continued as she finished skinning a two and a half footer, rolled the skin into a neat littlo package and placed it :n a box when' a hundred others wero salted down

"Going to skin another one?" Mrs. McGee was asked when she reached down under tho bench and brought another small one to the top of the table. " Yes, arid T want to finish all that pile over there," pointing to a number of alligators of all lengths under a tree. " before it gets too hot,"

Mrs. McGee was asked how long it would take her to complete tlio job. " Well. I don't know she said, " but I have skinned as many as fortyone, cooked dinner for three hunters and myself and finished up washing the dishes by noon."

An Immense Alligator. Alligators measuring from two feet to seven feet are the choice ones for the hide markets Mr August McGeo explained, stating that no matter how> long an alligator is the markets pay only for a seven foot length. The skin is not taken off the backs of the larger alligators, a strip of skin being left down the back, but the full skin, back and all, is taken from the smaller ones. Mr. McGee stated that he shot an immense alligator the previous night, one that would measure possibly twelve to fourteen feet. He tried several times to get it up into the boat, but being alone, had to give up the monster and leave it in the water. It takes two or three days to get thoroughly acquainted with hunting conditions after reaching an alligator hunting spot. " We've got a fine camping place down under the big oak tree here," Mrs. McGee said, " and it's the best camping place we've had on any of our alligator hunts — and I do enjoy camp life."