ncle Bate, who had studied taxidermy in high school and practiced it as a hobby, decided to stuff the monster to preserve this moment in the town's history. He performed his craft in the alley back of his garage. The fascination of being close to such a scary object drew me to beg my uncle to let me watch him work. I was told, "Yes, you can watch if you will stay back out of my way"; so I spent a shivery, goose-bumped hour or so sitting on an upturned bucket in the alley watching the operation. When finished, the alligator was magnificent: ferocious and lifelike. He was placed in the front window of Hot's Drug Store on Main Street where he continued to be the talk of the town for a while. He stayed there for years, finally becoming a dusty relic - a sad end for the mighty gator which had terrorized our town.