|
According to the FWC the head measurements of a gator are a more reliable gage of its age and "size" than length or weight measures.
Our experience is that a lot of old gators are missing parts of their bodies, tails being at the top of the list.
Weight too is deceptive of age. A case in point being the heaviest one on record which weighed 1000 pounds. That beast was caught by a nuisance trapper because it had been feed for years at a waterside restaurant.
It was fat to the point of gross obesity........a situation caused by hush-puppies and other fried goodies. ( At lest that is the story I got from the son of the trapper who was called to come get it. )
The one in the story..............lord I'd of loved to find him in one of the public hunt areas that has a lot of food. As it was he was caught because he was a pest.
That's one of the truly dangerous things about gators......its that if they become accustomed to associating humans with food by being fed then they lose their natural wariness and then things can get ugly.
Sure do wish I'd of found his big but out on one of the lakes we hunt.....!!
|