This story about the early days of Bronx Zoo begins with an Irish immigrant named John Mullaly, who worked as a reporter and editor in the mid-1800s for several New York City papers. John was a big proponent of green spaces, and often wrote about the lack of such spaces in New York City. Consider […]
Archive for the ‘Reptile Stories’ Category
1908: The Iguanas That Escaped From the Bronx Zoo
Posted: 11th April 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Attractions, Reptile StoriesTags: Animal Tales, Bronx Park, Bronx Zoo, Charlie E. Snyder, Lydig Mills, New York Zoological Society, Reptile House
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1933: Floyd, the Freeloading Turtle of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Posted: 7th April 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Attractions, Reptile StoriesTags: Cornelis Van Werckhoven, Floyd the turtle, H.D. Campbell, Jerry Villafrete, New York History, Toddy Inn, Willis Stock Farm
According to legend, this story all began when a customer brought three pet turtles into the Toddy Inn on 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge in 1933. Soon after the customer placed all three on the bar to show off their “racing skills,” one of the turtles made his escape. Either he was a very fast […]
1896: Cap Lawson, the Alligator That Fought a Newfoundland on Coney Island
Posted: 1st April 2015 by The Hatching Cat in Animal Attractions, Reptile StoriesTags: Captain Paul Boyton, Coney Island History, David V. Lawson, John Y. McKane, New York History, Sea Lion Park
In July 1896, Victor D. Levitt, the manager of the Bostock-Ferrari Midway Carnival Company, received an alligator that hailed from the St. Sebastian River in Florida. Victor considered the gift to be a bad luck sign, as the large alligator had been bruised in a train wreck on its way to New York. Victor decided […]
