Ward is still doing a voice over and this episode is about love: love for a baby alligator. Ward is digging through the chair and is fishing for junk while upstairs the boys are dreaming of purchasing and raising their own Florida alligator for $2.50. Yes, back then it was still legal to sell baby alligators. They were a favorite souvenir for relatives to bring back as gifts for nephews after a return from a trip to Florida. You could have gifted nieces also, but I don't recall girls from my era being fond of them.
Beaver figures they can keep the alligator in the bathtub. The money is sent and the giant beast arrives, in a shoe box. It's alive but it's about seven inches total; the boys have been "token." They don't need the tub, it fits nicely in the sink. Now they have to tell dad they have an alligator. When they ask Ward about alligators, they realize they need to speak to expert. Mayfield just happens to have one, Captain Jack who runs the Mayfield alligator farm with a population of 1,500 gators.
The boys have brought their gator to Captain Jack because they need help. They don't want theirs to die in captivity. What do you even feed an alligator? Jack tells the boys the survival of the baby gator depends on them; if they don't care then the gator won't care. First, he gives the boys advice on feeding their pet: some milk using an eyedropper (maybe add a dash of brandy) and a little raw egg. And the boys have a name for him, Beaver says it's Captain Jack.
To stop the gator's skin from cracking, they are using June's beauty cream. The boys are keeping Jack in his aquarium, the toilet tank. June is wondering about her missing eggs and beauty cream, and Ward notices his brandy is going down.
The gator is doing very well and is now over a foot long. The boys are even giving their own gator tours in their room to the neighborhood kids. Now the gator is too big for the "aquarium" so they will use the laundry tub in the basement. And Ward still is trying to figure out who is at his brandy, could it be Minerva, June's housekeeper. When Minerva comes running up from the basement screaming there's an alligator there, Ward figures Minerva has been at the brandy, and he escorts her to the bus stop. When a neighborhood girl comes to see Captain Jack, June finds they do indeed have an alligator in the basement. So does Ward when the Captain bites him. While Ward admires the boys for actually raising an alligator to that size, it's not practical to keep him. Ward has his first serious talk with the boys and they donate their alligator to the real Captain Jack who tells the boys they can visit any time, for free.
The boys go upstairs and are still sad and are promising to visit Jack every afternoon; but there is a puppy in a box with the name Captain Jack written on it. Of course, the boys are crazy for the puppy and . . ..
A good story but we know the boys don't keep a dog. The writers are going to have to learn to be more careful. Edgar Buchanan plays Captain Jack and he will return to eventually play Uncle Billy; brother to Ward's father. Also, we add to the mystery (for me at least) as to where Mayfield is located. Many clues suggest it's in Ohio and yet others suggest California. How many states have alligator farms?
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