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FASTBACK340

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This picture was taken by a Lifeflight helicopter flying over Lake Istapoka, (For those of you who are not local, Istapoka is near Sebring, Fl.) That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth! ?Are you ready to go fishing on Lake Istapoka ?! If you ski -- try not to fall. ​


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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,​
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if anything, understated. ​
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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... ​
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Holly Dinosaur FASTBACK340!!!:blob:
That is the biggest I have ever seen.
Good eating too. The tail is white meat and looks like a big chicken breast.
I picked strawberries in Dover Fla many years and as a child we would catch baby ones and sell to the pet stores, A single hook and rod and real with a big portion of bacon on it. You could spot the little ones in the shallows and just cast to them and let them take it for awhile and then pull them in.
We was at a sawmill pit and Jimmy found one and caught it.
We jumped on our bikes and hauled @$$ because when that little baby got pulled out "about 10" long" he started whistling for momma and you could see the small pond move and we got the heck out of there.

Hay 5 dolors was a pocket full for two boys in 1970.
I would see alligator crossing the roads and you had to be careful around pond there, Glenn W. strawberry farms in Dover Fla I watched them put two lines " rope" out to get a big pair of gaters out of there iragination pond.
They would tie off to a tree on both side and hang a hole chicken feathers
and all and pull the rope tight across the pond so it would keep the chicken up and away from the turtles. the next morning the line's was under water.
They would pull them to the bank a shoot them.
I remember watching Glen the owner pick the first 3 to four rows of strawberry's next to his watering pond to keep everyone away from the gaiters. But they where only about 6 to 8 ft long.

I remember asking my grandmother the first time I ever seen Glenn the owner Why he was picking that few rows of berries, She said, son there is gaters in that pond that could drag you in and eat you. I was 7 years to eight years old. Some good memories :thumbrig: Thanks for sharing John
 
That should make some yankees think twice about moving to Florida.
How fast can you run ? LOL
 
My Sister recently moved to Orlando and I tease her all the time about keeping an eye on her cats. But JEEEEZ! That Jurassic-sized tank would swallow a cat like a jelly bean.... And you used to play with their young Mike? Wow....

Ya know... up here in NY you run the risk of getting killed like any other over populated big city. But it's entirely different to risk being killed.

And eaten....
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I know Ill probably get flamed for this, but I think it sucks they had to shoot this big fella. I realize he could have killed the humans living at the lakes edge, but It would have been nice to see them ship him out of the area and put him somewhere else. I just think its amazing how big it was, looks like he could have gave a Nile croc a run for his money.
 
I agree that it WAS a shame to snuff the big fella, but I'd hate to be the one responsible for evicting him only to have him find his way back. With no change in his predator skills.

That's a BIG freaking alligator.
 
They have hunting license for them here in Arkansas.
Its like they only let so many license out to hunt them.
My father inlaw lives in Orlando and he said they are getting out of control.
dogs,cats and other pets are being hunted down by these monsters.
I do agree that it would have been good to save him for another area.
Like way out in the Everglades.8)
 
holy sheepsh*t batman!!!! is that thing directly out of the paleolithic(did i spell that right!) era??
that thing is huge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Dodgenut64 said:
I know Ill probably get flamed for this, but I think it sucks they had to shoot this big fella. I realize he could have killed the humans living at the lakes edge, but It would have been nice to see them ship him out of the area and put him somewhere else. I just think its amazing how big it was, looks like he could have gave a Nile croc a run for his money.
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They should have moved him but probably decided it was easier to just kill him because moving one that big would not be easy. Contrary to popular belief, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are not particularly aggressive. Crocodiles are far more dangerous.
 
holly cow, wonder how many people used the bathroom on there self when they saw that thing?
 
Didnt think gators could ever get THAT big.... I always thought crocs were the ones that got to massive sizes... holy crap!
 
If it was in YOU'RE back yard you'd shoot it! Besides who the heck would jump on it's back and tape it's mouth shut for catch and release. FL has borderline overpopulation on gators anyway! It wasn't a racoon in the trash cans!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
GTXperience said:
dmoore, how did you come across this thread after almost a year and a half? ;)

Still ... one huge a$$ gator!
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I noticed that also:toothy10:. Neat find, that is one hugh mother. When you travel across Alligator Alley in south Florida gators line the road almost the whole way.

Go Gators.....SEC.... BCS champs
 
Hate to rain on this but that set of photos has been used on at least one other lake. The did the same story with the same pics for lake Conroe in Texas. That may be the original but it has been used before.
 
Dodgenut64 said:
I know Ill probably get flamed for this, but I think it sucks they had to shoot this big fella. I realize he could have killed the humans living at the lakes edge, but It would have been nice to see them ship him out of the area and put him somewhere else. I just think its amazing how big it was, looks like he could have gave a Nile croc a run for his money.
Click to expand...
He was definitely a danger to the people at the waters edge, yet every year the edge gets farther out.
 
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