Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole

10.02.16    New books delve into Texas alligators and tacos

I had no idea that alligators can be found in 120 of Texas’s 254 counties until I picked up Alligators of Texas by Louise Hayes, who has been studying the subject for more than thirty years (Texas A&M University Press, $29.95 flexbound).

The authoritative 228-page book also features the color photography of Philippe Henry, who spent several weeks a year for five years with the same family of alligators in Fort Bend County.

“Sometimes I could get very close and was able to film intimate moments,” Henry writes. “Every alligator has a different personality. Some will let you get close without displaying any aggressive behavior. Others will not.”

In her text, Hayes devotes chapters to such topics as: “What Is an Alligator?,” “Where Do Alligators Live?,” “Life History of Alligators,” “Alligator Tales,” and “Alligator-Human Interactions.”

“The American alligator,” she notes, “is found only in the United States and ranges through ten states.” Crocodiles, on the other hand, are restricted to extreme south Florida but also range through Central and South America.

Hayes points out that because the alligator is a protected species, “it is illegal to catch a baby alligator to keep as a pet, harass an alligator in any way, or kill an alligator unless an individual is signed up for a specific alligator hunt.”

Back when I was in elementary school, my friend Dan McGinnis kept a pet alligator in a fish pond in his back yard. Word would spread, alarming the neighbors, when Dan’s pet got to where he could climb over the side of the shallow concrete pond. Finally, Dan and his dad released the alligator in a nearby bayou, and we all slept better.

Readers are invited to share their own alligator stories at AlligatorsInTexas.com.

Tacos: If you really like tacos, here’s a book for you — The Tacos of Texas by Mando Rayo and Jarod Neece (University of Texas Press, $19.95 paperback). The authors rounded up about twenty taco aficionados they call the Texas Taco Council to help them produce a guidebook to the best taco eateries and tasty recipes in ten Texas cities or areas (Abilene, Austin, Brownsville-McAllen, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Midland-Odessa, and San Antonio).

“Covering the traditional to the modern,” the authors write, “this story is about Texans’ love for tacos. We’ve been behind the scenes with the trailers, stands, trucks, taqueros, home cooks, families, and even some ranchos.” In the 440-page book, they “tell the stories, share the traditions, and identify the iconic tacos from all over the state.”

Glenn Dromgoole’s latest book is More Civility, Please. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.