A Real Bastard: Joe Ball, the Butcher of Elmendorf (via Murderpedia) / Alligators

Joe Balls bar in Elmendorf

Joe’s Bar in Elmendorf, Texas. As an attraction, he added an alligator pit,
and it was said that he fed small live animals to the ‘gators´

1. Scientific Names and Ranges
   1. Belongs to the family Alligatoridae
   2. American Alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) inhabits the Southeastern United States from North Carolina to Florida and west to the lower Rio Grande.

• Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) is found in the Yangtze River Valley of China

1. American Alligator
   1. Habitat
      1. Large shallow lakes, marshes, ponds, swamps, rivers, creeks, and canals in fresh and brackish water area
      2. A few may venture into salt water
   2. Physical Description
      1. Elongated armored, lizard-like bodies with muscular flat tails
      2. Broad head with a long, wide, rounded, shovel-shaped snout (shorter than a crocodile). Nostrils at the end to allow breathing while submerged under water.
      3. Four short legs – five toes on the front feet and four on the rear
      4. Skin on their backs is armored with rows of bony plates called osteoderms of scutes
      5. Average adult size – 8.2 feet for females and 11.2 feet for males
      6. Can weigh more than one ton
      7. Young hatchlings have bright yellow stripes and blotches
      8. Adults are dark with pale undersides
      9. Do not have a tooth that shows outside of the mouth when closed
      10. Poikilothermic or cold blooded

• Feeding Habitats
  1. Alligators are carnivores
  2. Young alligators eat insects, snails, frogs, small fish, and invertebrates
  3. At a length of 6 feet they feed mainly on fish, turtles, snakes, water birds and small mammals
  4. Large alligators readily eat carrion (dead flesh) and in fact prefer it to fresh meat
  5. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat almost anything including such objects as sticks, stones, fishing lures, and aluminum cans

1. Reproduction
   1. Sexual maturity depends on the size of the alligator – about 6 feet. Wild alligators will be about 10-12 years old. For alligators raised in captivity it will be much sooner
   2. Mature alligators seek open water areas in April and May – courtship and breeding season
   3. After mating females move into marsh areas to nest in June and early July
   4. Females construct mounded nests of available vegetation. They lay between 35-50 eggs (There may be as few as 1 or as many as 88)
   5. After laying eggs the female covers the eggs with a layer of vegetation
   6. There is a 65-day incubation period. Females stay nearby their nests and defend their eggs against predators such as raccoons. Only fifty percent of the eggs will survive
   7. Eggs hatch in mid August – mid September. The young alligators make high-pitched grunting sounds from within the egg. Females respond by using their mouths to remove the nesting materials covering the young thus liberating 6-8 inch hatchlings
   8. Hatchlings remain in groups called pods at least through the first winter and may stay near the nest site for 2-3 years
   9. First 2 years of life is the most critical. Birds, raccoons, bobcats, otters, snakes, large bass or even large alligators may eat 80 % of the hatchlings
   10. Once an alligator exceeds 4 feet it is relatively safe from predators but is still vulnerable to cannibalism
2. Behavior
   1. Predators
   2. Nocturnal – most active at night
   3. During the day – sun themselves
   4. At night go in water, live solitary lives and establish individual territories