From an email from my Dad:

Florida allows those who win permits to take three alligators. They sell the meat and hides , except the tails, which have the best cuts of alligator meat, and which they normally keep to feed their families. Mal asked how the alligator meat is cooked; the lady said by cutting it into cubes and deep frying it. She said it tastes just like chicken. (When I ate alligator meat, I thought it tasted like chicken because of the batter it was fried in. When Casey ate ‘gator, he also said, in a surprised voice, that it really does taste like chicken.)

The lady said that a ‘gator hunter can make nearly a thousand dollars on the meat and skins of three of the large reptiles. That reminded me of the three big ‘gators that the state had a hunter kill at Hontoon Island, near the ferry landing. Tuesday, my day to drive the ferry, the ‘gator hunter worked for hours just off the island near the picnic areas to kill the ‘gators. Finally, about the middle of the afternoon, he brought the ‘gators, killed but trussed up with rope, on the muddy bank of the landing (Perhaps the ‘gators wind themselves in the ropes when they are threshing around. They are killed with three bullets in the skull).

The dark gray ‘gators were almost the same color as the mud and the water. These three animals were rogue ‘gators, they had begun to stalk people, especially children – a practice which does not assure a long life for a ‘gator.

Posted May 30, 2004 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Travel. .

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