“Smiley” ( Eng. Smiley , Swede. Smilet ) is a famous Mississippian female alligator [1] , who lived in the Maritime Museum of Gothenburg , Sweden [2] [3] .
| Smiley | |
|---|---|
| English Smiley | |
| View | Mississippi alligator |
| Floor | female |
| Date of Birth | 1922 |
| Place of Birth | is unknown |
| Date of death | |
| A country |  Sweden |
| Occupation | The animal from the zoo. |
Smiley was born in the waters of the Mississippi River in 1922 [1] . In 1923, at the age of one year [3] she was brought to Gothenburg when the city celebrated its 300th anniversary. Smiley died on Monday, February 10, 1987 , falling ill two weeks before [2] [3] . At the time of her death, she was 65 years old, and she entered the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest alligator living in captivity [2] .
The cause of Smiley’s illness and death was hypothermia: a campaign was conducted to reduce costs, and in order to save energy, the temperature in the aquarium of the Maritime Museum was lowered from 27 degrees Celsius to 22 [1] .
Museum director Joran Sandstrom noted that Smiley (so named because of the specific expression of the muzzle) led such a calm lifestyle that visitors often considered this reptile weighing 165 pounds (75 kg) and 8.69 feet (2.6 m ) [4 ] dead [1] . These sizes are considered small for North American alligators (males can be almost twice as large as Smiley in length, and more than 5 times in weight). The fact that Smiley was a female could only be established after her opening [4] .
Three years after Smiley’s death, in 1990 , her scarecrow made by taxidermist Erling Haack was exhibited at the Gothenburg Museum of Natural History [5] . The scarecrow was made of gypsum, painted with oil paints . Artificial eyes were equipped with dual lenses from Hendén Optik AB. Smiley's remains are stored in the museum’s scientific collection under number 17246 [4] .
Memory
Like many other Gothenburg celebrities, Smiley has a tram named after her - M29 859 [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Smiley the 'Gator Dies as Sweden Cuts Heat in Aquarium . Los Angeles Time . articles.latimes.com (February 10, 1987). Date of treatment November 3, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Oldest alligator in captivity dies . Gadsden Times . Google News Archive (Feb 10, 1987). Date of treatment November 3, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Smiley was a fixture at the Goteborg ... Orlando Sentinel . articles.orlandosentinel.com (February 11, 1987). Date of treatment November 3, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Tidskriften Ringlinien 3/2010, Björn Johansson, “Vem var Smilet?”
- ↑ Torkel Hagström. Smilets återkomst - Historien om en alligator. - Göteborgs Naturhistoriska Museum, 1991.