While in Florida this past February we came across something totally unexpected. We stopped in a gift shop to look for some t-shirts for our grandchildren. They had what we were looking for, but as we first entered the shop we ran into a display of alligators, or to be more exact, a display of one whole alligator and at least 100 alligator heads.
The alligator heads ranged in size, as did the price for these gruesome trinkets.
Now, we all know about alligators, and they do have a rather bad reputation, but no animal should be sacrificed to provide man with such a horrific novelty.
I know that alligator meat can be eaten and some consider it a delicacy. After doing a little research, I was shocked to learn that a pound of alligator meat ranges in price from $7.00 to $20.00 a pound. The choice cuts come from the tail and jaw. Guess what it tastes like. If you said chicken, good guess. Funny how many things taste like chicken, and with that being the case why not just eat a dam Yard Bird.
Being a sportsman I understand hunting for meat. I have eaten all kinds of wild game, including many different game birds, venison, bear, raccoon, and snake meat.
I get it, different cultures have different diets. The average alligator weighs in at about 800 pounds and is between 10 - 13 feet long.
If your diet includes alligator meat, more power to you. I just find it repulsive that on display were the heads of alligators that had to weigh under 15 pounds. There couldn't have been too much meat butchered from these tiny fellows.
They were butchered for the sole purpose of providing tourists with a trinket.
Now, that just ain't right!
I hope you are as repulsed with this senseless killing as I was when I was greeted at the door by this carnage.