Deer Hunting FL Style!

[Don Phelps 85]

This is a big'un!

[Jon 533]

That's cheating, gator has no class. Not even hitting between eyes or in back of ears.

I say shoot the gator.

[Don Phelps 85]

He does it the right way.....not a wuss with a gun! :lgbugeyes

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Nice try, but that is a South Carolina Picture.

[Don Phelps 85]

Well Alan, as usual you know it all. The email I received with the pics stated that it was taken over a lake in Ocala, FL.....My bad. It's not about some interesting pics, it's about who's right or wrong. Go change your unloader!

:lgbow:

[One Tough Pressure 580]

No, today it is a whip hose, I hope the unloader lasts a little longer. I just happen to see the story on those pics a day or two ago, so I got lucky.

Just imagine going in for a little swim and whammo, your gone. Sucks to be a deer.

[Outlaw 14]

I don't care where he came from, he's one bad mofo!!!

Gav

[squirtgun 122]

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

It sucks to be the deer.

[Celeste 341]

So, okay - WHO'S WATER DO I WANT TO AVOID???

[Aplus 525]

No water is safe....except maybe your bathtub. <jaws sound effects playing in background>

[Mike Williamson 198]

So, okay - WHO'S WATER DO I WANT TO AVOID???

Origins: I really didn't care for venison the few times I tried it, but the gator in this picture appears to like it just fine.

These photographs of an alligator swimming across a lake with a deer clutched in its jaws circulated on the Internet in mid-2004, accompanied by several different versions of text crediting them to different sources:

• A photographer flying over Cross Lake (or Lake Conroe) in a news helicopter belonging to TV station KTBS of Shreveport, Louisiana.
  
• An "Alabama Forest Service guy on daily fire patrol" at Lake Martin, Alabama.
  
• An employee of the Texas Forestry Commission took the photograph while flying in a helicopter with the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
  
• A worker at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
  

The first explanation was out, as KTBS said they haven't had a newscopter since their chopper crashed in 1990, and Leslie Johnson with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries noted that the vegetation was all wrong and the water too clear to be Cross Lake. And officials with the Alabama Forestry Commission disclaimed the Lake Martin explanation: Although the caption indicates that the alligator is in Lake Martin, officials at the Alabama Forestry Commission said that's not true.

"It's a legitimate photo, but it wasn't taken on Lake Martin," said Regina Miller, assistant to the state forestry commissioner. "It was taken in South Carolina, and I suppose someone thought it would be more interesting here if it was on Lake Martin, Alabama."

Jim Spradley, the pilot for the Tallapoosa County office of the state's forestry commission, said he too received the e-mail, but he was never fooled by the photo.

"I've got that e-mail myself, and as far as I know, I'm the only one who flies Lake Martin," he said. "I didn't take it."

In August 2004, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) finally cleared up the issue by issuing a press release identifying the photographs as having been taken in south Georgia (near the Georgia/South Carolina border) by a USFWS officer in March 2004: The sight of a 12 to 14 foot-long alligator is something south Georgia folks see occasionally, but few have seen one take an adult deer out to lunch. Actually — for lunch.

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.

"One advantage of fire work is you get to see that 12-14 footers are common from Santee National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina to Coastal South Carolina to Georgia’s coast," said Jenkins. "It looks like the alligator population is doing extremely well."

This one was at least 12-13 feet long. Jenkins said that some bull alligators have a 35 inch girth.

Last updated: 27 August 2004

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

[newlook 265]

Wow...now that is one big gator. Wonder how long it would take for a gator that size to eat that deer?

[Jon 533]

One thing for sure, that gator would sure make a nice pair of shoes or boots once he is finished with his dinner!

[Celeste 341]

If I remember correctly, in one of those wildlife programs that I've seen, crocs and alligators have fairly small throats and don't gulp down large prey or rip bites off like lions. They drag it to the bottom of the lake, stuff it under a log and feed on it as it decomposes so they can get small enough bites to go down....Gross.

[MeiersEnterprises 14]

Venicen probably tastes BETTER decomposed! LOL