Household Object: Taxidermied Alligator Head, $20.00

A depiction of departments is presented in the image above, which was created by Machado. The artwork visually illustrates the various divisions that can be made within an organization.

Characteristics:

✯ The Alligator mississippiensis is its scientific name

✯ It can reach up to six inches in length

✯ It can survive in the wild for a maximum of fifty years

✯ Its incapability of chewing is a characteristic of the species

Val, my partner in the office and a vegetarian with a gentle spirit, has a subtle yet enduring distaste for bones.

I was astounded she let me keep the alligator head we discovered in a very fashionable vintage store near our West Philadelphia home.

I have always had an affinity for taxidermy, as it gives rise to many interesting associations.

It can remind one of hourglasses and skeleton keys, witches and rearticulated animal skeletons, anatomy charts, nineteenth-century academia, scientists, organs in jars, antique globes, and a sense of antiquity.

Taxidermy is an art that brings together life and death, man and animal, tradition and ambition, ignorance and knowledge, and somehow, each element is highlighted.

This head of an alligator is delicate, yet surprisingly strong. Its eyes are black and worn, with several teeth missing and several still intact. When viewed from the front, the skin is so glossy it could be mistaken for artificial.

Turning it around, it is possible to discern the spot where it was cut off from the body, which is dark and distinctly natural. Inverting the head reveals a translucent membrane at the top of the mouth, and salt crystals from preservation sticking to the underside of the jaw.

The mouth remains forever open and can no longer be closed.

When I saw the alligator head, my friend informed me that they are widely found in Florida and are a popular souvenir among tourists.

I have traveled to Florida many times in my life: once when I was young, to visit some of my parents’ relations and go to Walt Disney World; again, years later, to visit the family of a friend I was dating, and later to take a dip in an ocean which was as warm as bathwater.

To me, Florida was a mixture of beauty and terror that always brought you close to danger: thunder that sounded like gunfire, downpours that could drag your car off the street, and roaches the size of cats.

And of course the possibility of alligators, which probably would not target an adult, but could easily snatch a dog or child if given the opportunity.

I constantly kept an eye out for them, but never saw one, apart from at a restaurant on Tybee Island, Georgia, where I could enjoy a plate of grilled seafood with the attraction of the alligators in their lagoon-style habitat in plain sight.

My apartment is miles away from where the alligator’s head originated and passed away, but it still takes pride of place on my desk.

Surrounding it are a crocheted cactus, my late grandad’s cherished ashtray, a milky-white crystal quartz, a postcard of Saint Lucy holding her own eyes, and a small, anatomically accurate rubber heart.

When I’m thinking between writing, I sometimes put my finger in the alligator’s mouth, pushing a bit. Occasionally, this pressure will cause a tooth to pop out and roll away. On its own, the tooth is insignificant, not able to hurt anyone.

But prior to that, I can’t help but appreciate the incredible sharpness of her teeth, marveling at the sensation of a bite that will never come.

In 2013, the Catholic Church made it clear to those that follow their teachings that, for the duration of Lent, alligator meat should be considered part of the seafood group and not meat.

At an event characterized as a combination of a circus and an exhibition, in the late summer of 1930, a three-hundred-pound gator from Tampa, Florida, bit off George Rogers’ lower left arm.

Rogers was a professional alligator wrestler and lifeguard. Following the incident, the alligator was euthanized, and Rogers received workers’ compensation.

Right before the year 2000, he passed away from emphysema; until that day, he was still tapping his cigarillos into the ashtray.

4. Depending on the narrative, she either dedicated her virginity to God and allowed someone else to take out her eyes, or she did it herself.

Subsequently, she was decapitated. Miraculously, when those handling her body for burial found her eyes, they were restored.

She is now the patron saint of people with blindness, salespeople, and writers.

Using a different structure, the same meaning of the text can be conveyed without plagiarism.

By altering the format, one can express that:

The use of technology in the classroom has become increasingly popular.

As more schools turn to digital resources, students benefit from the interactive, engaging experiences that come with the use of technology.

It is becoming more common for classrooms to have access to devices, such as tablets and laptops, to facilitate learning.

With these tools, instructors have the ability to create interactive lessons that captivate the students and help them to better grasp a subject.