Monster 780-pound gator caught in Florida

[PolWatch]

How would you like to see this fella in your backyard?

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160405202241-gator-caught-in-florida-exlarge-169.jpg

"We were on a hunt for hogs and happened to come across the gator. There are natural ponds and waterways around for the cows to drink," Godwin told CNN.
"There are lots of gators out there," Lightsey told CNN. "It's the start of mating season. This was a big one."

A big one indeed, the animal weighed in at 780 pounds, according to Lightsey. His son Mason told CNN he estimated it was "almost probably close to 15 feet."
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/05/us/big-alligator-in-florida-irpt/index.html

[SemiteArt]

Nomnom !!!

[Peter1469]

I have seen some around 20'. They didn't have to kill it.

[PolWatch]

Normally I would agree that they didn't have to kill it...but this one was found in a pond on a cattle ranch. It was eating the livestock. I have seen 8' gators swimming past my backyard. I have a fence to keep the dogs in the yard and to keep the gators out so its not a problem.

[OGIS]

I'll just drop this here...

Did anyone here know they could do this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qp_bUYPrTg

[JDubya]

They estimate that it was over 100 years old.

When I was in high school, some friends of mine killed one in a drainage canal that ran through the woods behind our neighborhood. It measures out to a little over 10'.

In order to get it out of the ditch, they had to go get one guy's mom's Vista Cruiser station wagon and a piece of stout rope. Tied it around the gator and the trailer hitch, pulled it out then used a winch to pull as much of it as they could into the back. The tail still drug the ground behind it.

I saw the skin tacked out onto a 4' x 8' piece of plywood. Just the torso skin, minus the head and tail, almost completely covered the entire piece.

I think it ended up becoming several wallets and belts.

[JDubya]

I have seen some around 20'. They didn't have to kill it.

20' eh? :rollseyes:

[Peter1469]

20' eh? :rollseyes:eh?


A rough guess based on the size of our boat- 24'.

[PolWatch]

The largest alligator I have seen was about 17'. We were in a 16' boat and the gator was longer than the boat. We decided to fish in another spot.

[Green Arrow]

I never even thought about eating gator until I met and married a Louisiana cajun. Now I'm hooked.