Something was stealing the young pigs from a small chicken and hog ranch along the San Antonio River, and 14-year-old Edmund Dullnig was determined to find out what.
The losses had puzzled Edmund and his older brother, Arthur. Their piglets were disappearing, one by one, from the pens near the riverbank, leaving the boys with little more than suspicion and frustration.
Then, on a Sunday afternoon in 1911, Edmund took his shotgun and waited quietly near the water.
Before long, the mystery lifted its snout from the San Antonio River.
Kills Alligator in San Antonio River
SAN ANTONIO, Texas. — By killing an alligator, four feet long, in the San Antonio River below the second mission, Edmund Dullnig, aged 14 years, son of Officer Dullnig, believes he has successfully solved the mystery of the disappearance of some of his young pigs.
Edmund, in company with his brother Arthur, aged 16 years, maintains a chicken and hog ranch on the banks of the river, and for some time they were at a loss to explain the disappearance of the baby pigs.
Sunday afternoon, Edmund took down his shotgun and stationed himself on the bank of the river in the vicinity of the pig pens.
Pretty soon an alligator stuck his nose out of the water, and made for the bank. Edmund remained quiet, and when the alligator had crawled up on the bank he fired on him, killing him instantly.
The boy is now on the lookout for another alligator, reported to be six feet in length and seen in that neighborhood some time ago.
Source: San Antonio Light. San Antonio, Tex. October 2, 1911.
