Stay out of the water

[Iron Dealer 1]

Ahh! Life in Paradise!


These first 2 pictures were taken by a KTBS helicopter flying over Lake Thomas, Winter Haven, Florida. The helicopter pilot and the game wardens on the ground were in communication via 2-way radios. Here is a transcript of their conversation:



'Air1, have you a visual on the gator, Over'



'Approaching inlet now, Over'



'Roger Air1'



'Gator sighted. Looks like it has a small animal in its mouth....moving in, over'



'Roger Air1'



'Oh Crap it's a Deer!'



'Confirm Air1.. Did you say Deer?, Over'



'Roger.........a Deer in it's mouth....looks like a full sized buck....that's a big gator, boys. We're gonna need more men, Over'



'Roger Air1.....can you give me an idea on size of animal, over'



'Its a big one.....25 feet at least, please advise, gator is heading to inlet....do I pursue?, over'


That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth! The deer was later found to be a mature Stag. If you ski at the west end of the lake ---- try not to fall overboard.


This alligator was found between Lakeland and Winter Haven Florida near the house of Anita and Charlie Rogers, who could hear the beast bellowing in the night. Their neighbors had been telling them that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house, but they dismissed the stories as exaggerations. 'I didn't believe it,' Charles Rogers said, but after the alligator was killed, they realized the stories were, if anything, understated. Game wardens were forced to shoot the alligator. Joe Goff, a 6'5" tall game warden, shown below, walks past the 28-foot, 1-inch long alligator that he helped shoot and kill in the Rogers' back yard.

WOW

They finally got ol' Charlie!


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[figbo]

Wow!

[synergymw]

Wow.....

[JJ Irani]

WOW!! What a sizer!!

Makes "JAWS" look small by comparison!!

[B Square]

That tales been around for a while. Check out the real story http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

[gmt master x]

look at the size of that guys head, wow....

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by gmt master x

look at the size of that guys head, wow....

The better to eat you with, my dear!!

[R1@160@alltimes]

"stay out of the water" is right

[JJ Irani]

Just wondering why the hell they had to go and shoot this magnificent reptile. Surely, any fine Zoo would have been more than happy to accommodate the beast.

JJ

[TSW]

Wow you better stay out of the water my friend!!!

[Art 1]

That's really cool, I've been by that lake.

[hhh007]

<<< Game wardens were forced to shoot the alligator. >>>


Yeah, isn't that always the case. They were "forced" to shoot it so some nitwit game warden could have his 15 minutes of publicity is more likely closer to the actual truth.

[DCgator]

That's a lot of gator straps for dozens of Rolex watches!!! lol....... j/k

[Andad]

I guess its luck ran out.

[SLRdude]

That's a whole lot of straps indeed.

[prismresearch]

The Game Warden in my area would have only asked one question, "did that gator possess a proper deer tag?"..............

[figbo]

Originally Posted by B Square

That tales been around for a while. Check out the real story http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

You are such a party pooper!

[Rogue884]

I love that story, problem is the news station call sign KTBS is west of the Mississippi, and there is no Lake Thomas in Winter haven, but there is Thomas Lake that is man made in the middle of a neighborhood, and the largest alligator on record is 19'2".

But this photo is enough to scare you.



Taken right outside the outlet mall in St Augustine, FL off the I-95, recognoze it Prince