OKEFENOKEE SWAMP PARK
WAYCROSS - Visitors loved Oscar, the Okefenokee Swamp Park's resident alligator, who often slumbered on the freshly mowed grass and sometimes the concrete walkways in the park.
But sometime during his long life, someone must have wanted his hide.
Oscar survived a shotgun blast to the face, at least three bullet wounds to the head, turf wars, multiple broken bones and crippling arthritis. Officials know that now because the beloved old gator died last July and the evidence is visible in his bones.
From the time the park opened in 1946, tourists would clamor whenever Oscar would haul his 13-foot, 5-inch, 1,000-pound body from the swamp and bask in the sun near the visitor center.
"He was the alligator who became associated with the park when it opened," park manager Martin Bell said. "Visitors still ask about him."
Within a year, visitors will be able to do more than ask. They will be able to view his skeleton, which is being mounted like that of a museum dinosaur.
Bell said the project is a tribute to the alligator who dominated in the park's waters for at least six decades. When another alligator, Old Roy, died in 1972, a taxidermist preserved him hide and all. But the taxidermist who charged $4,000 to preserved Old Roy asked $40,000 for Oscar, far more than the park could pay, Bell said.
But, it's not an easy job, said Don Berryhill, who is in charge of assembling as many as 700 bones in their exact positions. Berryhill, who is retired from teaching anatomy and physiology at colleges in North Carolina and Georgia, said he has never tried to assemble an alligator skeleton.
"It's like putting a puzzle together," Berryhill said. "This is one of the biggest challenges I've ever had putting this together."
His main reference is Alligators and Their Allies, Albert Moore's 1915 book, still considered the best source in identifying each bone and itsplacement. It will help his crew set the bones at the proper angle, even the 69 floating vertebrae jumbled in a cardboard box.
Shortly after Oscar's body was discovered near the park, Bell and others decided they had to do something special for the most famous alligator in the region. They placed Oscar's body in a cage in an isolated area and cut it open so insects could clean the carcass for them.
In Oscar's stomach, they found a plastic dog collar, a dog's tag, a penny, pieces of plastic, rocks and the top section of a flagpole. The items will be included in the display, Berryhill said.
Three months later, the insects had done their job, leaving little of Oscar except bone and gristle, Berryhill said.
The bones were boiled and scraped clean, soaked in hydrogen peroxide to whiten them and in bleach to disinfect them. The bones were then sealed in clear acrylic to preserve them for years to come.
Berryhill recruited nuisance alligator trapper Jackie Carter of Folkston and Jim Brewer, a project manager with International Machine Technology in Waycross, to help.
Brewer's company volunteered to custom-bend the steel rods to hold Oscar's skeleton in place as it's assembled. The company already has manufactured the rod holding all the bones from the alligator's head to the tip of its tail. Brewer's services, along with all the custom-made materials, are provided at no cost, he said.
"Piecing something like this together, I'm just honored to be able to do it," he said.
Carter's expertise comes from 20 years of trapping and removing nuisance alligators from the region and his experience in mounting alligator heads.
Carter said Berryhill called him after experiencing problems putting all the teeth back into Oscar's mouth. Carter quickly put the teeth in their proper places and was asked to return once a week to work on the project.
"He was probably the best known gator in the swamp," Carter said of Oscar. "Size, he ranked among the largest gators I've seen."
Carter said Oscar's wounds likely happened during the Great Depression before hunting was banned in the swamp. One bullet wound shattered Oscar's cheekbone, which never healed. More than 20 shotgun pellets were pried from Oscar's head and snout, with about 10 more pellets buried so deep they decided to leave them embedded.
To help solve confusion with bones that look similar, Carter said they plan to skin an alligator he recently killed to match up the location and angle of the bones.
Once they are sure they have every bone in its correct location, the skeleton will be mounted on a clear plastic display shaped similar to Oscar's body, so visitors can get a true sense of how imposing the alligator was when he was alive.
Berryhill said discussions have begun to take Oscar's skeleton to schools, festivals and other public events in the region.
"A lot of our guests are saddened when they hear about Oscar," he said. "But they are glad we're doing something for the next generation."
