‘An alligator got betty’ : Dangerous animals as historical agents

Journal article


Maglen, Krista. (2018). ‘An alligator got betty’ : Dangerous animals as historical agents. Environment and History. 24(2), pp. 187-207. https://doi.org/10.3197/096734018X15137949591945
AuthorsMaglen, Krista
Abstract

In 1932 four year old Betty Doherty was taken from the grasp of her older brother by a fourteen-foot crocodile in Far North Queensland. Through an examination of historical sources as well as the work of psychologists, cognitive scientists and zoologists, this paper explores the role ascribed to the crocodile as well as other 'dangerous' animals that have bitten, stung or consumed settlers across Australia, and asks whether and how they might 'act' or be given voices within our reading and understanding of the past. Animal historians have begun to ask questions about historical agency through analyses of domesticated or working animals, and interactions between people and wild mammals. Insects, fish and reptiles, however, remain anonymous and non-specific, disappearing back beneath the waves or into the dark holes from which they emerged, and yet they were often agents of great change in the human lives they encountered. This paper asks whether historical agency and intent can be found in these less sympathetic and less 'knowable' creatures, and examines how historians might conceive of watery predators or venomous creatures that disappeared from sight or perhaps were never seen at all.

Keywordsanimals; Australia; agency; predators; punishment; venom
Year2018
JournalEnvironment and History
Journal citation24 (2), pp. 187-207
PublisherThe White Horse Press
ISSN0967-3407
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3197/096734018X15137949591945
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85045054818
Page range187-207
FunderIndiana University
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online05 Jan 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited24 Jul 2023
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