Big Bad Texas Gator
September 27, 2006
Here’s a story of a very large alligator in Texas. Not the biggest ever, but still pretty damn large.
Here’s a picture of it taken a KTBS helicopter flying over Lake Conroe in Texas with a whole deer in its mouth! Think of how large it has to be to fit an entire deer in its mouth.
The alligator was found between Athens and Palestine, Texas near a house. How would you like to meet this fella in the dark? Never let it be said that they don’t grow them big in Texas. Game wardens were forced to shoot the alligator as he clearly could devour an entire family for lunch.
Apparently, the locals could hear the bellowing in the night.
Neighbors had been saying around the street that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house, but every story was dismissed as exaggerations. “I didn’t believe it,” Charles Rogers (on neighbor) said. This past Friday they realized the stories were, if anything, understated. Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens had to shoot the beast.
This last picture is of Joe Goff, 6′5″ tall, a game warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, walks past the 23′1″ alligator that he shot and killed in the Rogers back yard.
Entry Filed under: Photographs, news, stories. .
40 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Kathryn | September 27, 2006 at 9:59 am
Holy effing CRAP!
2.
Liz | September 27, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Thats what SHE said
3.
danette | October 3, 2006 at 11:32 am
Sorry, but the story that you got here isn’t the right one… I received the same story along with the photo’s in an e-mail a while back, and decided to investigate, this is what I found:
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/gator-with-deer.html
Quoting Hoax Slayer:
This email forward arrives with photographs that show a very large alligator swimming with a fully grown deer in its mouth. The photographs have been circulating, along with variants of the email message shown above, since 2004. According to this version of the message, the photographs were taken from the KTBS helicopter over Lake Conroe, Texas. Other versions of the message use alternative locations, including Lake George (Florida), Cross Lake (Louisiana) and Lake Murray (South Carolina).
The photographs are genuine. However, they were not taken over Lake Conroe or any of the other locations mentioned. Nor were they taken from a news helicopter. In fact, the photographs were taken by Terri Jenkins, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a wildlife refuge near Savannah, Georgia . According to information in a 2004 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Press Release:
The photographs of this deer-eating alligator were taken from the air by Terri Jenkins, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service District Fire Management Officer. She was preparing to ignite a prescribed fire at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, about 40 miles south of Savannah, Georgia, on March 4, 2004.
Jenkins took the photographs from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helicopter used for igniting controlled fires. She estimates that the alligator was at least 12 or 13 feet long.
4.
Mike | October 11, 2006 at 11:50 am
The pics were indeed taken in south Georgia in 2004..There are six photos in all and can be seen at http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/r04-073.html
The gator was not killed just photographed ..
5.
Ross Perot | November 29, 2006 at 2:25 pm
This is from South Georgia, not Texas.
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/r04-073.html
Everything’s bigger in Texas, even the fish stories!
6.
Karl | January 29, 2007 at 10:19 am
Was the Wardens uniform from GA or Texas. That would verify which state the the photo was taken
7.
Larry | February 6, 2007 at 12:23 am
I just received the hoax Email from a friend the other day and had to do some research. At first I thought it was amazing, but in reading that the gator was 23 feet, the voice inside my head cried BS.
I checked out the site posted by Mike and believe it to be true.
So what I am asking is where is the third pic with the gator strung up from and what is the story behind it ?????
8.
trish | February 7, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Why not just capture it and move it some where else Why do we have to kill Animals for no apparent reason. Steve Irwin would be so dissapointed of people like you.
9.
gunsmith | February 9, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Thank God.!!!!! Now I have a reason for a dinosaur killing rifle. This is the BADDEST BOY IN THE WOODS. I wonder what the game warden used to kill it? I would use nothing less than a 600 nitro express, as anything else may just make it mad. This thing is PREHISTORIC.Where can I get a hunting licence?
10.
Patisol | February 10, 2007 at 8:16 am
Sorry big bad gun toting dude… the last picture of the gator and the game warden is from Texas, but it’s a different story and different gator.
http://www.thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=86dd3c1ea51fe00d
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/wcgator.asp
“This image is another example of how positioning can exaggerate the apparent size of objects in photographs. The alligator is in the foreground of the picture, with its head turned towards the camera, while a game warden strolls in the background, making the reptile (particularly its head) seem proportionally larger than it really is. “
11.
Pat | March 6, 2007 at 10:03 pm
You can get the real story at snopes http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp#photo
The killing of the gator isn’t mentioned, so doubt this is the same gator. I live on Lake Conroe, so it was important that I find out if it was true. Sure we have gators, but lets keep it in perspective!
12.
junk | March 26, 2007 at 2:41 am
Yeah, that whole “public safety” thing. I mean, animals are way more important than humans. Why can’t we just leave them alone. They’ll only eat 1 maybe 2 small children. where’s the loss there?
sometimes, the organism higher on the food chain (thats us) has to ensure its position. anything else is just wishing for death.
13.
Tasha | March 26, 2007 at 2:55 am
“Trish’
If you relocate an alligator it will always come back, so they have to euthanize gators that are a danger to humans. It’s true look it up.
14.
Abbie | March 26, 2007 at 7:52 am
This is friggin amazing, I can harly believe how big that gator is!
15.
Larry | March 26, 2007 at 8:14 am
This is what we do we kill what we think is dangerous.Yet we let murderers and rapists and child molesters walk around after serving their (time)
16.
von | March 26, 2007 at 9:56 am
so they killed it because it was big? thats not fair. that means theyre not allowed to live that long. thats not fair at all.
17.
tightman | March 26, 2007 at 10:17 am
i hate the fact that half of these people who comment dont read the previous posts, then make themselves look stupid by saying something that we have already established isnt true…
18.
David | March 26, 2007 at 10:28 am
Do you wanna spend time living near a giant gator? At least with an ex-con, there’s a chance the person is different. Gators don’t exactly have the capability to learn not to kill people, its kind of an instinct for them. So what do we do with giant 23 ft gators? We kill them so they can’t kill us. Then we get a pair of boots that makes people go “Dude, those are nice” when they see you. Live with it.
19.
chris | March 26, 2007 at 10:26 pm
WOW that is the biggest real alligator i’ve ever seen. I don’t care where it’s from that’s a big gator. For someone to take the time to research an e-mail to see if it’s true is almost as lame as…. wait it is even lamer then some one posting the wrong picture with the wrong story. It’s the internets and it’s a series of tubes. Everyone researching this story… GET A LIFE. HAHAHAHAHHA. Losers!
I wish I posted this article with these pictures so I could have the satisfaction of knowing a bunch of dumb asses wasted time researcing my internets posting.
Getta Bup
20.
Corey | March 26, 2007 at 11:08 pm
I am sorry to disappoint some of you, but the first two pictures alone prove that this gater is no 23 feet long. Unless of course the deer itself is about 12 feet long. Just do a size comparison of the two together, and figure it out for yourself.
21.
niki | March 27, 2007 at 12:51 pm
This is so mean. Why does every time there is an article on an animal they show a pic oif ti dead. hanging there. everyone wonders why our world sucks. that is why. we are killing all of hte animals and everything is in turn dying.
22.
Leeeeeeeeep | March 28, 2007 at 12:40 am
That gator isn’t big. It’s just up close to the camera. The one with the warden, I mean. If it wasn’t, I think we’d see it’s shadow next to the warden’s. As for the one the deer… It doesn’t look that big to me. As for killing it just for being big… What a shame if something like that would happen. One or two little kids? The world could do without one or two lives, it only has some insane amount more to cover for those. As for “ex-cons” being “different”… Well, if you mean ‘more careful around authorities so they don’t get caught’, you’re right.
I also doubt that gator, the one in the warden picture, is dead. Either it’s alive, or someone/something is holding it’s tail up. Couldn’t be the floor, as there is no shadow.
Signed, the Spouter of BS.
23.
tyler | April 9, 2007 at 3:22 pm
this is in bar x ranch where i live the one withb joe gof walking by it its not 23ft long its 13′ 1” i was standing right there by it
24.
Todd | April 19, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Everything is bigger in Texas but we don’t shoot alligators and hang them, we eat them. That big boy could’ve fed many here in Texas and the alligator boots would’ve been worth something even to Donald Trump hahahaha.
25.
Captain 3 | June 14, 2007 at 3:41 am
Jeez, do you people read? The one hanging from the backhoe is from South Texas. It was 13 feet 1 inch, and had to be killed because it no longer feared humans. It was found in a backyard of a subdivision. The Game Warden in the pic is Texas Game Warden. The other 2 pics are from another story which was also blown up. It wasn’t any bigger, and the deer was a fawn. If y’all believe everything you see on the internet, I got some land to sell you.
26.
Captain 3 | June 14, 2007 at 3:43 am
Previous poster CHRIS: eaten by a 35 foot alligator in TEXAS. Pics to follow soon.
27.
Ciarán May (Northern Ireland) | July 6, 2007 at 7:15 pm
That would put you off going top Texas!! :O
28.
mike | July 17, 2007 at 1:13 pm
no one has mentioned this i don’t think, but forget the shadows! why is the tail still curled? if it was dead, it would be laying on the ground.
29.
Paul | February 3, 2008 at 4:00 pm
i see what yale are coming from about the whole killing and stuff but when a animal is that big and swimming in a public lake where childen and people swim you have to do something about it they should of put it in a zoo but if i was to see that i would kill it too
30.
Jack | February 25, 2008 at 3:50 pm
This is one big gator i wish i could have shot it or just ran from fear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
31.
David | March 22, 2008 at 11:50 pm
The last story smarty pants is true for i was there. the first pics and story may not have been, but the gator between athens and palestine texas is indeed a true story. It’s not trick photography. I don’t know where all you know it alls get your info, but you had better check your spources before poutin off. People have a right to be amazed at such a creature, and it is not all that uncommon!
32.
David | March 22, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Wrong again captain it was not south texas, it was east texas. The gator was not 13′ long it was 23′ long. And while you can’t believe everything you hear or see, that don’t mean everything is a lie. Captain of what your bathtub tug boat.
33.
Christopher Darin | March 23, 2008 at 8:50 pm
THIS WAS TAKEN IN TEXAS. I WAS PRESENT WHEN THE GATOR WAS HOISTED OUT OF THE WATER. THIS IS ABSURD HOW Y’ALL CAN SAY THAT Y’ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU REALLY HAVE NO CLUE. I LIVE IN CONROE, TEXAS AND I KNOW THE TRUTH…..ONE MAIN REASON IS THE TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE OFFICER IN THE PIC…IS MY UNCLE….
34.
Sydney | April 10, 2008 at 8:13 pm
GOD!!!! I never want to go swimming again expessally if I might be eaten by a prehistoric freak. Man I need a hunting licence!!! THAT THING FREAKS ME OUT!!!!!
35.
Dnasty | April 17, 2008 at 4:09 pm
They should be shooting Mexicans sneaking through the border instead of what little wildlife we have.
36.
Ed Tsantamount | April 22, 2008 at 11:17 pm
You Texans are so gullible. You’d believe pretty much anything that ‘glorified’ your sorry state. The only thing big in texas is the BS.
37.
Bob | August 14, 2008 at 10:21 pm
With the way mankind has conquered engineering the impossible, you mean to tell me that they could not capture this beautiful creature and relocate him to the many santuaries or zoos that would love to have him? Even a zoo has a capture team that goes to exotic locations to safelt bring home beautiful animals and creatures. Humans are over populating this planet, and pretty soon the animals will have no place left. We need some more castrophies to happen and implement world wide sterilzation after two children.
38.
Anonymous | December 31, 2008 at 8:20 pm
thats a gater
39.
autumn | March 28, 2009 at 10:49 am
its so fake and there r no gators in texas
40.
kaitlyn | April 17, 2009 at 4:56 pm
It was so taken in georgia