Description
Book SynopsisPeople have long been fascinated by the American alligator. Ever since humans arrived on the continent more than 15,000 years ago, the American alligator has been both feared and revered, celebrated and scorned, and often hunted for food and hide. Once tourism began to take hold in the South as a real industry, especially in Florida, the alligator took on iconic and even mythical status. One of the most picturesque features of Florida has always been that uncouth and fierce-looking reptile called the alligator, wrote Nevin O. Winter in 1918. Everybody who comes down here to the peninsula has an ambition to see one in the wild. Seminole Indians wrestled alligators for show. Alligator souvenirs and mascots often took what people feareda sharp-toothed predatorand made it into something cute and cuddly. Alligator-themed songs were recorded and released, including See You Later Alligator by Bill Haley and His Comets. Hollywood into created alligator-themed movies such as Alligator People.
