Goliath Gator!

[RoLo]

 

If this photograph is authentic (it appears to be superimposed) my only feeling would be sadness.

Why destroy such a rare and beautiful specimen, it's no different than throwing a 12-pound bass on a riprap bank. 

In any case, the story is below:

 

 

Although this animal is huge I was not that surprised it existed,” Mr Lightsey said. “We have come across lots over the last 20 years that have been only a little smaller. “But what really drew our attention to this animal was the fact that it seems to have been feasting on the cattle on my farm, because mutilated body parts were found in the water. It was a monster which needed to be removed.”

Hunting guide Blake Godwin’s nine-year-old son Mason said this wasn’t his first hunting trip, and it was “not scary at all” to hunt such a huge animal. As seen above, he even posed next to the animal as it was hoisted above the ground by a tractor’s loader. Some people have doubted the photograph is real, Godwin said, “There’s a lot of folks saying that, but it’s 100% real. I took that picture, the photo is real.”

Mr Lightsey’s company arranges hunts for alligators, wild boar and turkey on the farm he owns for hunting trips. The largest alligator previously killed was just over 13 feet long. Lightsey
charges $10,000 to kill an alligator larger than 13 feet and $4,500 to kill an alligator between 10 feet and 12 feet.

Mr Lightsey has been commercially hunting alligators since he began “harvesting” them in 1988 and more than 5,000 alligators bigger than 1.5m have been killed since then. There are hundreds of alligators for hunters between 10 feet and 13 feet, he says, while animals longer than 13 feet are only encountered about once a year. The animals are mostly killed with high-powered rifles. “But always we kill them with the minimum of suffering without allowing them to be injured before they die,” he said.

American alligators inhabit the southeastern United States, with Florida and Louisiana each reported to have a population of more than one million alligators each. Southern Florida is reputed to be the only place in the world where both alligators and crocodiles live alongside each other in freshwater environments such as rivers, lakes and swamps.

Mr Lightsey says he plans to get the alligator stuffed, while the meat will be donated to charity.

 

Roger

 

 

 

 

[soflabasser]

Love seeing alligators when I am fishing since I know they are a sign of a healthy ecosystem.Have seen both alligators and crocodiles while fishing , the crocodiles seem to keep their distance from fishermen more than the alligators.

[RoLo]

57 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Love seeing alligators when I am fishing since I know they are a sign of a healthy ecosystem.Have seen both alligators and crocodiles while fishing , the crocodiles seem to keep their distance from fishermen more than the alligators.

 

You said a mouthful, without those gorgeous reptiles it wouldn't be Florida.

Do I respect them...Yes     Do I fear them...No

People seem to forget, it is 'their' living room, and 'we' are the intruders.

 

Roger

[Darren.]

Beautiful beast. Sad outcome.

[Catt]

Sauce Piquant

 

I coach PE at a private school & once a year we take students on a field trip to Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge known for its pioneering research into alligators, their natural history, their requirements and ranching. 

[Redlinerobert]

Cowboy boots!

[Raul]

Cowboy boots and supper ...... hmmm, gator burgers .....

[lo n slo]

the article fails to list the official length

[RoLo]

 

The Swamp Cowboys of the Florida Glades are a wild bunch.

They refer to boots as "moccasins" (water moccasins) and gather round for 'Armadillo Burgers' (inland lobster) 

[frosty]

2 hours ago, Redlinerobert said:

Cowboy boots!

And lots of them!

[Raul]

40 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

The Swamp Cowboys of the Florida Glades are a wild bunch.

They refer to boots as "moccasins" (water moccasins) and gather round for 'Armadillo Burgers' (inland lobster) 

 

Armadillo stew .....yummi !

 

Can't help it, I'm mexican, we eat anything ! ( well, I don't eat insects ) 

[Redlinerobert]

So.  What does armadillo taste like?

[RoLo]

On 4/7/2017 at 9:39 PM, Redlinerobert said:

So.  What does armadillo taste like?

 

I'm chewing right now, and can't talk with a mouthful  

 

 

All joking aside, armadillos have been in a steep decline in central Florida.

I'm not aware of anyone who eats them other than cougars (Florida panthers).

In fact, our panthers are being held responsible for the armadillo's disappearance, but I doubt it.

A local taxidermist is now paying people for road-killed armadillos in mid-Florida (I'm serious)

 

Roger

[Bluebasser86]

Big gator, but I believe that picture is akin to long-arming a bass.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Big gator, but I believe that picture is akin to long-arming a bass.

 

My first thought was Photoshoped or at least arranged for maximum visual effect.

 

I"ve seen a lot of big gators & a lot of John Deer tractors something aint kosher!

[ccummins]

What we can go by (reasonably well) is that the distance  btw eyes and nostrils is about half of the "depth" of the bucket.  Couldn't find that stat for a John Deer H360... To wit, the number of inches from midpoint btw eyes to midpoint btw nostrils equals the number of feet in length of total gator.

 

The kid and tractor are definitely "long arming" it, notice that photo is from an angle with gator closest to camera and kid is WELL behind gator reaching up as if touching it.... Could reach it if he were Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four....

[Clinton john]

Photoshoped.

 

If you zoom in on the pic you can see that the boy does not have a left hand his hand is missing in the pic only the bottom part of his Palm is there.

[Crappiebasser]

16 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

I'm chewing right now, and can't talk with a mouthful  

 

 

All joking aside, armadillos have been in a steep decline in Florida.

I'm not aware of anyone who eats them in Florida, other than cougars (Florida panthers).

In fact, our panthers are being held responsible for the armadillo's disappearance, but I doubt it.

A local taxidermist is now paying people for road-killed armadillos in Florida (I am serious)

 

Roger

I need to start hauling them down there from AL. We are infested with them up here. I was doing some work at my moms house a few weeks ago and walked outside to find 5 roaming the yard at dusk.

[Jtrout]

Its big for sure. I had 2 armadillos run in front of me driving through florida shoulda jerked the wheel lol

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, Crappiebasser said:

I need to start hauling them down there from AL. We are infested with them up here. I was doing some work at my moms house a few weeks ago and walked outside to find 5 roaming the yard at dusk.

 

It's a shame, because when we first moved to Florida (1998) the state was infested with armadillos.

We seen armadillos virtually everyday, shortly before dark, but I haven't seen a live one in years (roadkills, yes)

They love to excavate under homes, so those in developed areas were ambitiously exterminated,

and those living in our wooded areas are an easy meal for cougars & coyotes.

 

Roger

[Fisher-O-men]

3 hours ago, A5BLASTER said:

Photoshoped.

 

If you zoom in on the pic you can see that the boy does not have a left hand his hand is missing in the pic only the bottom part of his Palm is there.

Does not prove it was photoshopped.  Might mean he had a run-in with the critter before and survived to tell about it!

 

I bet float tubes do not sell well around there.

[RoLo]

56 minutes ago, Fisher-O-men said:

Does not prove it was photoshopped.  Might mean he had a run-in with the critter before and survived to tell about it!

 

I bet float tubes do not sell well around there.

 

Oddly enough, no one has heard anything from the float-tube salesmen   

[Raul]

20 hours ago, Redlinerobert said:

So.  What does armadillo taste like?

 

Pork like.

[RoLo]

2 hours ago, Raul said:

Pork like.

 

 

I wasn't quite sure what Raul meant

when he said:"Dillo on the half-shell"   NOW I get it.

 

Allow me to provide the Don Julio            

[Redlinerobert]

I need to go back to Leon.