View Full Version : 23 Foot alligator Found in Florida...With a Deer in its Mouth
sws4420
03-09-2007, 12:34 AM
Date: Mon, 1 Aug, 2006 06:14:24
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.
http://www.s0lidgr0und.org/imagehosting/1745f0e2aa9832b.bmp
http://www.s0lidgr0und.org/imagehosting/1745f0e2c3d3d80.bmp
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.
http://www.s0lidgr0und.org/imagehosting/1745f0e2c3d8bc8.bmp
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.
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 01:45 AM
Why did they kill it again?
sws4420
03-09-2007, 01:46 AM
Why did they kill it again?:huh:
Donna
03-09-2007, 09:03 AM
:ohwow: HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!
sws4420
03-09-2007, 09:20 AM
How far are you from Lake Istapoka?
Donna
03-09-2007, 09:43 AM
How far are you from Lake Istapoka?
I looked up where it is, it's right by Sebring, which is where I go twice a year on retreats.....I'll be staying right on a lake in April there.........no sunbathing for me! A bunch of people bring their jetskis, i'm gonna print up that gator pic and bring it, HAHA
Hockey2006
03-09-2007, 09:59 AM
oh my god...
i willl have nightmares about this
Donna
03-09-2007, 10:13 AM
How far are you from Lake Istapoka?
i didn't answer you b4, i'm 2 1/2 hrs south
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 10:48 AM
I still want to know why they killed it. The article say's nothing of the alligator attacking or being a danger to anyone.
Donna
03-09-2007, 10:52 AM
I still want to know why they killed it. The article say's nothing of the alligator attacking or being a danger to anyone.
if it were smaller they could trap it and move it to the 'glades or lake ocheechobee.....but i doubt there's a trapper anywhere in the state of florida or louissiana that could take that one alive.
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 10:58 AM
if it were smaller they could trap it and move it to the 'glades or lake ocheechobee.....but i doubt there's a trapper anywhere in the state of florida or louissiana that could take that one alive.
Did they even try that route though? I would love to know how old the alligator is. My guess is that it is 20+ years old. What is the problem with leaving it where it was?
Donna
03-09-2007, 01:58 PM
Did they even try that route though? I would love to know how old the alligator is. My guess is that it is 20+ years old. What is the problem with leaving it where it was?
I didn't hear them mention if any pets were missing in the area, that's usually the only time they don't relocate them, if a gator has killed a pet or a person. Perhaps the size of the monster was enough to justify killing it:dork:
Cutesunshine
03-09-2007, 02:28 PM
he had a deer in his mouth. Who's to say that couldnt have been a child.
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 02:34 PM
My feeling is if you move next to the wetlands of Florida knowing that creatures like this are there why is it the alligators fault? You move next to the Mississippi River and it floods, who's fault is it? The rivers? You move on a fault line and your house falls down from an earthquake, who's fault is it? California's?
Cutesunshine
03-09-2007, 02:42 PM
A 23 foot alligator is more than likely a freak of nature. They are far from endangered, and if it could tentatively harm humans... i think it should be disposed of.
I think most people in Florida think of alligators as a nuisance, but accept them as we do raccoons and skunks. If we see a rabid coon, do we trap it and save it? More likely than not our animal control kills it before it harms someone.
does that also mean that the dogs that we own, that could potentially harm a human if provoked, should also be destroyed 'just because'? or the tree that is our front yards be cut down because a limb could potentially harm a human? I think they were wrong in killing this animal just because they didn't know what else to do.
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 02:53 PM
I agree with you completely on this Dave. I am not against hunting, but I am against the killing of animals just because. Even bringing it to a zoo would have been better than just killing it.
Where's Steve Irwin when you need him?
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 03:19 PM
I am sure he is rolling over in his grave right now.
Crystal
03-09-2007, 03:20 PM
My feeling is if you move next to the wetlands of Florida knowing that creatures like this are there why is it the alligators fault?
What if it was a child who was brought there on vacation in his mouth? Would it be ok to kill the gator then?
MedicCook
03-09-2007, 03:25 PM
What if it was a child who was brought there on vacation in his mouth? Would it be ok to kill the gator then?
That depends. Was the animal acting in an agressive state or did the child provoke the animal? I was bitten by a dog when I was a small kid and it was my fault. I provoked the dog by getting into it's space while it had a bone. Should that dog have been put down because I was bitten? No. It was my fault. The kid walks up to the edge of the water where alligators are known to be. Is it the alligators fault? No it's the kids and parents fault.
sws4420
03-09-2007, 03:27 PM
does that also mean that the dogs that we own, that could potentially harm a human if provoked, should also be destroyed 'just because'? or the tree that is our front yards be cut down because a limb could potentially harm a human? I think they were wrong in killing this animal just because they didn't know what else to do.Actually, yes. Dogs that pose a danger to humans are killed all the time. They get one free bite. After the second one, they get destroyed. Trees that look to be dangerous to people are cut down all the time, whether they are or not is anyone's guess. Especially if the tree looks like it's probable to hurt someone. A lot of times the homeowner will have it cut down or trimmed back to take some of the liability off them in the case of something actually going wrong. If the gator was swimming around with a couple hundred pound animal in its mouth like nothing, whose to say someone on the lake in a rowboat or a child looking for fish in the same place the deer was standing wouldn't have been taken away into the water just as easily as the deer was? Christ, if it was a kid chances are we wouldn't even have the luxury of knowing where the kid went. At least the deer was big enough to hang out of its mouth.
Think of all the nice luggage and boots that could be made from it.
Or maybe a clocktower, like in Hook.
Crystal
03-09-2007, 03:27 PM
That depends. Was the animal acting in an agressive state or did the child provoke the animal? I was bitten by a dog when I was a small kid and it was my fault. I provoked the dog by getting into it's space while it had a bone. Should that dog have been put down because I was bitten? No. It was my fault. The kid walks up to the edge of the water where alligators are known to be. Is it the alligators fault? No it's the kids and parents fault.
I'm sorry I don't agree.
I believe if something is a known danger to humans it should be put down. Dogs included. But definetly an aligator that is 23 foot and carrying a deer in it's mouth. That's just scary.
Donna
03-09-2007, 03:44 PM
My feeling is if you move next to the wetlands of Florida knowing that creatures like this are there why is it the alligators fault? You move next to the Mississippi River and it floods, who's fault is it? The rivers? You move on a fault line and your house falls down from an earthquake, who's fault is it? California's?
http://neveryetmelted.com/?cat=521
sws4420
03-09-2007, 03:46 PM
:kickcan:
Pretty impressive.
I like to mention storoes of this kind here, so I went looking for news stories. Surprise! I didn’t find any.
What I found was a number of links indicating that the giant alligator-with-deer and game-warden-named-Joe-Goff photos were from separate sources, and the email story was a hoax.
The alligator with deer photos were actually taken by Terri Jenkins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from a helicopter flyong over Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, about 40 miles south of Savannah, Georgia, on March 4, 2004. The alligator in the photo was estimated to be at least 12-13 (3.6-4 meters) feet long.
The game-warden-walking-past-gator photo was taken by Val Horvath, and published in The Facts (Brazoria County, Texas) April 16, 2005.
The alligator was really 13-foot, 1-inch (4 meters) long. It was shot and killed in the back yard of a home in the Bar X Ranch on FM 521 near West Columbia, Texas by Joe Goff, a game warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Hoax emails are in circulation combing the Terri Jenkins photos with the Val Horvath photo, enlarging the alligator’s size to 23 feet (7 meters), and misattributing the location to several places in Florida and Texas.
Debunked at:
Snopes.com
HoaxSlayer.com
I still found all this interesting enough to pass along.
Donna
03-09-2007, 03:54 PM
that link insinuates the gator thing is a hoax.....I couldn't find it in a regular news article......anyway, I'd rest better knowing that sucker were gone.......yes,it's one of Gods creations that has a right to it's place......but behind bars in a zoo would be agreeable, but i'd wanna watch the poor sucker who tries to trap it.
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