Huge Florida alligator may be the new record holder

Owners of a cattle ranch in Florida most likely found the reason for their disappearing cattle. This gator is just under 15 feet long and weighs in at 800 pounds. (Or, 57 stone as our friends across the pond might say)



Giant Alligator Found In Florida

a reply to: ColeYounger

I understand the threat this alligator posed to both cattle and people.
It was estimated to have been at least 100 years old.

Couldn't they have just caught it and relocated it to somewhere that it posed less of a threat?

a reply to: Freeborn

That was my first thought as well. Why kill it? Couldn't they capture it and release it at a preserve?
(They'd probably have to tranquilize it. Can you imagine the fight that gator would put up?)

a reply to: ColeYounger

We 'found' the biggest one… and we killed it.

Yaay

Killing of the largest specimens in some pride filled trophy quest should be illegal. Yours is the biggest on record, heres a hefty fine.

a reply to: ColeYounger

A sigh of relief from captain hook me tinks.

a reply to: ColeYounger

I guess it would have been both a difficult and dangerous task to try and sedate it and then transport it somewhere and I dare say there won't have been that many locations where it could have been moved to.

But it seems a shame that such a great creature had to be killed.

And I suppose some people just enjoy killing wild animals.

a reply to: intrptr

Yours is the biggest on record, heres a hefty fine.

Maybe the government could also take on the responsibility of feeding it? Truck in some calves and small children so it can get even bigger?

I don't think the farmer was out for a trophy hunt when he got this gator. I think he was protecting his family and livestock.

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: ColeYounger

I understand the threat this alligator posed to both cattle and people.
It was estimated to have been at least 100 years old.

Couldn't they have just caught it and relocated it to somewhere that it posed less of a threat?

Hate to break it to you, but Steve Irwin died in 2006.

I can't see anyone else jumping on the back of that thing.

a reply to: BelowLowAnnouncement

Hate to break it to you, but Steve Irwin died in 2006. I can't see anyone else jumping on the back of that thing.

Steve would have loved to hang out with that gator.
R.I.P. Steve.

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: ColeYounger

Couldn't they have just caught it and relocated it to somewhere that it posed less of a threat?

I don't think you can "just" catch and relocate a 5+ Meter, 360+ kilogram gator.. sounds like something that would require a whole team and a lot of other resources.

On the plus side, maybe they can sell it to a gator-skin product company? Gator boots are expensive. Get that $ FarmerJoe

a reply to: butcherguy

I don't think the farmer was out for a trophy hunt when he got this gator. I think he was protecting his family and livestock.

I think they made that up. One of the two guys was an alligator farmer…

Lee Lightsey, owner of Outwest Farms in Okeechobee, and hunting guide, Blake Godwin, wrote on Facebook it's the largest they've ever found.

They did not immediately return calls for comment.

Hoaxy doaxy

a reply to: Freeborn

I don't expect they enjoyed killing such a huge beast but it would have posed a terrific threat where it was.

Perhaps it had wandered into the area with humans etc and even if relocated back further away could have returned with lethal affect.

I also suspect that it would have posed a threat to other gators wherever it was located - not an easy decision or one probably many were prepared to finance.

You cant really storm castles now a days, so killing a dragon is the next best thing.

At least it wasnt a celebrity like that lion everyone forgot about already

a reply to: FamCore

I don't think for one minute it would have been an easy exercise to catch this alligator alive and then relocate it.

And I certainly wouldn't want to understate how much of a threat this creature posed to the farmer, his family and livestock etc.

But it just seems a shame that such a great creature had to be killed and then displayed as some sort of trophy.

Guess the farmer and his family will be eating gator burgers for quite some time.

a reply to: intrptr

I think they made that up. One of the two guys was an alligator farmer…

So it may have been his livestock that he killed and butchered.
That should keep in the clear of those who would not want large wild animals killed.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: intrptr

I think they made that up. One of the two guys was an alligator farmer…

So it may have been his livestock that he killed and butchered.
That should keep in the clear of those who would not want large wild animals killed.

Maybe he and his 'guide' buddy let it go in the pond and his buddy the 'guide' charged a huge fee for some city slicker to kill it.

a reply to: intrptr

How did it taste!?

That was a big gator! I don't think any of those pythons and anacondas
would have made a meal out of him.

I would most certainly enjoy killing such a monster....its the only practical way of dealing with such.....
Whats the matter with you people?
Ya cant leave that thing wandering around....duh....
Im sick of greenies and their pseudo sentimental crap...sometimes the atavistic instincts are the right ones....

a reply to: bandersnatch

I agree. Nice post. The thing would eat a child