As has already been noted there is, besides certain structural differences, a marked difference in the dispositions of the Florida alligator and crocodile. While an alligator may snap its jaws, hiss, and swing its tail from side to side, it is not difficult for a couple of men with ropes and a pole to safely tie up a large specimen. The struggles of a crocodile are of a more serious nature. Ditmars thus describes an encounter with a captive Florida crocodile: “The writer well remembers his first acquaintance with a big fellow from Florida. Driven out of the crate the crocodile looked the picture of good nature. Standing away from what he thought to be the reach of his tail, the writer prodded the apparently sluggish brute with a stick to start it for the tank. Several things happened in quick order. With a crescentic twist of the body utterly beyond the power of an alligator, the brute dashed its tail at the writer, landing him such a powerful blow that he was lifted completely from the ground. As he left _terra firma_, an almost involuntary inclination caused him to hurl his body away from a pair of widely-gaping, tooth-studded jaws swinging perilously near. Landing with a thud on one shoulder, though otherwise unhurt, the writer threw himself over and over, rolling from the dangerous brute that was actually pursuing him on the run, body raised high from the ground. For an instant it seemed as if the crocodile would win. As the writer sprang to his feet and glanced backward, he beheld the brute throw itself flat on its belly, open the jaws widely, then remain motionless as a statue. Such is the average crocodile--an active, vicious and, above all, treacherous brute.” Ditmars says again, in the same book: “When the keepers of the reptile house of the New York Zoölogical Park clean out the big pool of the crocodilians, they actually walk over the backs of some of the big ’gators, so tame are these. They never become unduly familiar with the crocodiles, finding it necessary to pen the latter behind heavily barred gates--and in the process the men are often chased from the enclosure.” [Illustration: NILE CROCODILE. (_Crocodilus niloticus._) Distribution: Africa generally; Madagascar. Grows to a length of sixteen feet. (After Ditmars.) (Reproduced by Permission of Sturgis & Walton Co.)] [Illustration: FIG. 11. WEST AFRICAN CROCODILE. (_Crocodilus cataphractus._) Distribution: West Africa. Does not attain so large a size as the Nile Crocodile. (After Ditmars.) (Reproduced by Permission of Sturgis & Walton Co.)] In contrast to this ferocious aggressiveness in captivity the American crocodile is said to be very timid and retiring when in its native habitat. Young animals are greenish with black marking; as they become older they are of an olive color, and old specimens are dull gray. THE ORINOCO CROCODILE, _C. intermedius_