about nine in the morning
The crocodiles all lay nose toward it , some of them twelve or fourteen feet long , some smaller , and some very small indeed , all interested to distraction in the dead tree-trunk . `` That is where he feeds them , '' Schillingschen announced . `` He has tested them for hearing , smell , and eyesight . By making fast a living animal to that post be has been able to convince himself that from about nine in the morning until five in the afternoon their senses are limited . Only occasionally do they come and take the bait between those hours . They are hungriest in the early morning just before daylight . Recently a large ape tied to the post at midday was not killed and eaten until four next morning , and that is about the usual thing , although not the rule .