Outwest Farms’ Lee Lightsey and hunting guide Blake Godwin were out with two hunters Saturday for what was supposed to be a standard hog hunt. That all changed when the four men came across an alligator they suspect had been eating the Florida farm’s cattle.
The alligator was found in a pond where cattle frequented, waiting for its prey to come to the water’s edge for a drink. At least one decomposed body was found in the water.
“We … discovered the remains [of] what we determined to be cattle in the water. We determined that he was in fact attacking our livestock as they came to drink,” Godwin told Fox13.
Outwest Farms, Inc. guides for gators as well as hogs and Osceola turkeys, so the men simply switched their targeted species and went after the cattle killer.
Skeptics claimed the alligator was the product of Photoshop and idle time, but the giant gator is the real deal. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was contacted to verify the photos and the animal itself, with spokesman Tony Young confirming to ABC News the alligator hunt’s authenticity.
CNN reports that the gator will be made into a full-body mount, and any meat the hunter does not take will be given to charity.
Florida is home to some 1.3 million alligators across its 67 counties. While many anti-hunters decried the killing of the gator at Outwest, relocation was not really an option in this case. The FFWCC does not relocate nuisance alligators for three reasons: 1) the species’ stable and thriving population, 2) relocated animals tend to return to their capture sites despite the best efforts to the contrary, and 3) relocated alligators tend to disrupt the social behavior and hierarchy of other populations.
The alligator is reportedly the largest one taken in the wild at Outwest Farms — or in all of Florida for that matter. Official measurements have not been taken but rough estimates put the reptile at nearly 15 feet long and weighing 800 pounds. Young told ABC News the FFWCC would likely release the official stats on Wednesday, but no word as of press time.
If so, it would become the largest gator to be taken in Florida. The current length record is 14 feet, 3½ inches (weight of 654 pounds). The current, unchallenged record for weight is 1,043 pounds.
