Got Gator?

[Steve1968LS2]

These pictures were taken by a Lifeflight helicopter flying over Lake Istapoka,

(For those of you who are not local, Lake Istapoka is near Sebring, Fl.)

That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth!

[Steve1968LS2]

Actually it was 23 feet long..




The alligator was found between Lake Istapoka and Pinedale estates... near a house , Game Wardens were forced to shoot the alligator- guess he wouldn't cooperate.

Jayne and Don Hobkirk could hear the bellowing in the night. Their neighbors had been telling them that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the Lake that runs behind their house, but they dismissed the stories as being exaggerations.
"I didn't believe it," Don Hobkirk said.

Friday they realized the stories were, if anything, understated.
Florida Game and Parks game wardens had to shoot the beast...

Joe Goff, 6' 5" tall, a game warden with the Florida Game and Parks Commission, walks past the 23-foot, one inch alligator that he shot and killed in the back yard of Jayne & Don Hobkirk

:shrug:

[muthstryker]

woah.. thing is huge could you imagine going out one morning in a kayak on a nice saturday morning and have that thing come up from under you


think of all the gator skin shoes now hmm lol

[Damn True]

Too bad they had to kill it. What an awesome critter!

[Mkelcy]

Too bad they had to kill it. What an awesome critter!

My thoughts exactly.

[Steve1968LS2]

Actually they didn't.. i did a snoops on it. They are two seperate gators and are actually 13-ft (still BIG)

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/wcgator.asp

Gotta love the internet.. lol

[JoshStratton]

Wow. Those things are the reason people's pets were disappearing from my grandmother's neighborhood in Bonita Springs, FL.

[toxicz28]

think of all the gator skin shoes now hmm lol

And alligator tails too!

[Bill Howell]

Hey Steve,
You know why the gator was swimming with the deer in his mouth?
He was getting away from the big gators in his clan so he could have the deer to himself.......lol
I have friends in Dothan, Alabama that hunt these things for fun.
I just can not see the fun in catching a really pissed off 13' gator and pulling him into a 16' Jon Boat?

[BA.]

....damn that's a big head!

that thing looks pre-historic!

[shmoov69]

Well, my pop has a place in Okechobee, FL and there are gators about that big! I have personally seen one that is the freakin' biggest gator ever (IMO!!!). It was as long as the boat and half as wide. The boat was a 20' Ranger and (not sure on width, but) about 6' wide. I could not believe it. It stayed in the same cove for as long as he had been going down there (about 20 years), but he has not seen it in the last 2 years. Guess someone got it.
Actually right out from that cove I got to pet a Manatee that came up to the boat and was curious about us. Kinda' neat to be able to do that in the wild. That was about 15 years ago on spring break. I told dad "great, my buddies will all say they got laid on spring break, and I will be able to tell them I pet a Manatee!!" LOL!

[go-fish]

The pics have been around for awhile, atleast 2 1/2 years or so since I first saw'em. Who knows, the one with the deer may not be all that big, those Fla. deer are about as big as Great Danes, LOL.

[Beegs]

My uncle has a place on the St. Johns (SP) river in FL I hadn't been out there in maybe ten years. He brought me out this past spring and I COULD NOT believe the amount of gators compared to last time!! He said they have gained in numbers big time. I am sure at some point we will be wearing gator everything, from shoes to hats! Cheap too, someone who is connected will have a relative chomped up and it will be open season.

[tuckin20s66]

Think of all the door panel inserts, seat inserts, the possibilities are endless!

[JEFFTATE]

Big Gators gotta eat too !
They are pretty animals .
It's a shame to have to kill them.
They should have called somebody like the Crocodile Hunter to remove the gator.
I hate to see nature destroyed in any way.

[Beegs]

Big Gators gotta eat too !
They are pretty animals .
It's a shame to have to kill them.
They should have called somebody like the Crocodile Hunter to remove the gator.
I hate to see nature destroyed in any way.

I for one am glad to read about dinosaurs in HISTORY books.

"Hey how do you like my 60'x100' shop? Damn here comes that
T-rex, I hope he doesn't smash my shop into a million little pieces, again!"