 With the increasing population in towns near the Everglades came hunting opportunities . Even decades earlier , Harriet <unk> <unk> had been horrified at the hunting by visitors , and she wrote the first conservation publication for Florida in 1877 : " [ t ] he decks of boats are crowded with men , whose only feeling amid our magnificent forests , seems to be a wild desire to shoot something and who fire at every living thing on shore . " <unk> and raccoons were the most widely hunted for their skins . Otter pelts could fetch between $ 8 and $ 15 each . <unk> , more plentiful , only warranted 75 cents each in 1915 . Hunting often went unchecked ; on one trip , a Lake Okeechobee hunter killed 250 alligators and 172 otters . 
