Posted on 10/14/2004 7:32:47 AM PDT by esryle
PALATKA, FL -- For the past four years, Sparky Rinnert and his friends have been going through the process of obtaining tags for hunting gators.
Now his quest for the 'big one' is over..
On October 2, they bagged a monster alligator on Rice Creek just north of Palatka. The unofficial measurement: 13-feet 6-inches long, weighing 760-pounds.
The measurement is unofficial because it wasn't confirmed by a biologist from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The longest gator on record was just over 14-feet in length, and the heaviest weighed 1,043-pounds.
"But when you see a big, like a twelve to thirteen foot (gator), they have big teeth, and I always wanted a big toothed gator," said Rinnert.
Rinnert's long-time friend and hunting companion, Bruce Ditto, was aboard his 16-foot all-aluminum boat when they first hooked the gator with a rod and reel with 60-pound test wire.
Over the next 90-minutes the men used their years of experience, skill, and luck to harpoon the big gator two times, then subdue it with three shots from a 'bang-stick,' a device that fires a .44-magnum bullet into the gators skull.
"You really can't describe it. It's something you gotta kind of live," said Ditto. "I mean, it's a rush. Your heart gets to beatin'. When you know you've got a big animal like that, yeah, your heart gets to beatin'. You don't really have time to get scared, you've got to treat it with respect."
The men were well aware of the potential for injury when dealing with such a large animal.
"This is a potentially dangerous gator. We got it less than 200 yards from a dock that people like to fish," said Ditto.
Their boat, an appropriately named, 'Psycho 16 footer' bears the scars of battle with the titanic reptile. There are four large scrape on the underside of the hull, and a quarter-inch diameter puncture mark in the heavy aluminum deck.
"That's a war wound." said Rinnert. "We need to leave that."
Ditto explained how the big gator left his mark.
"Before we was actually able to get him in position to bank stick him, he swung his head and grabbed the boat right here like this, (motioning both arms clamping together) and there's a hole there and rubber's all tore up and it's loose."
And between the four men and the massive beast the all-aluminum hull was balancing nearly half a ton when it was brought aboard.
"We figured we had 1750 pounds on that side of the boat and four of us hoisted the gator in the boat over that bow," said Ditto. "And he pretty much took up the whole boat, lengthwise."
Their prize is at the taxidermist --getting stuffed.
"We kept all the meat ourselves, we skinned the gator ourselves, and he's going to have a full body-mount done. He's a healthy, perfect looking gator, and he deserves to be full body mounted," said Ditto, who has his own 12-foot prize gator taken in 2002 stretched across his living room floor.
Sparky Rinnert's wife isn't so keen about sharing her humble abode with thirteen-plus feet of reptile.
Thank goodness for Sparky's machine shop
"And we've got some big I-beams and we're going to hang it from an I-beam and hang it down at the shop so when people walk in the door they're going to see this big gator," said Rinnert, the man who wanted a prize gator with big teeth
"I'm done. I'm happy. Never have to go gator hunting anymore!"
Good. I'm getting tired of: "Crikey it's a croc, I'll save it if I can."
Huntin' a 13-foot gator with rod and reel takes testicles the size of planets.
It's a shame. An animal that size is probably pushing 100 years old.
I thought they were going to show a pic of Michael Moore lying there!
Imagine the wisdom that magnificent creature possesses! I can't bear to think of the learning we have lost because of the murder of a fellow inhabitant of our noble world!
</sarcasm>
Yep me too Brutus....
When my pop was stationed in Panama he would take me to a big alligator farm...and they had some big gators...they made shoes handbags belts wallets and stuffed gators..
My dad sprung for a medium sized one for me...but I had my eye on a big one...
This here gator would have been my ultimate dream...I hope to find this guys shop one day and see that stuffed gator..
These guys did a great service getting that monster out of a place where humans gather to fish...sooner or later somebodies kid or grandma would have gotten themselves et
IMO
I know, but these creatures swim around in canals and swallow small dogs (pugs!) and cats. I know that he's an awesome specimen and it's sad ... but these guys eat a lot of cute furry animals!
If one these gators ever ate one of my pugs ... I don't know what I'd do.
Get a grip. I just felt it was a shame to kill an animal this big and this old.
No, but pulling the danged thing in the BOAT with you does!
You pinged?!
"The longest gator on record was just over 14-feet in length, and the heaviest weighed 1,043-pounds."
Actually, their are early reports of gators reaching nearly 20'.
Too bad they killed it. It would have been better to have captured it alive, taken it to a local zoo and seen how big they could grow it.
On a steady diet of liberal Democrats, it might reach 20' But since Dems are so full of hot air, it would take a lot them to fill it up.
Boots and chili for everyone!!!!!
A lot of work for an animal that really does taste like chewy but tasty free range chicken. At 13 feet that ones' likely to be chewier than most.
How do you think they get so big? However, when a gator starts nabbing stray animals, pets, and the occasional person, that gator is usually hunted down and either killed or relocated. Nothing in the article said this was the case with this particular monster. Yeah, if this thing ate one of my dogs, I'd go after the beast, too. But, like I said, it doesn't appear this animal was causing any problems where he was.
We live on a golf course, lots of gators in the lakes, and once a gator kills a dog they're considered a "nuisance."
They took one out of our little lake (water hazard) a few years ago. It was killing large dogs like a German Shepherd and a Boxer.
The gator measured 10 ft. 4 in. A 13 footer could not only take out a dog, but any person that happened in its way.
I read an article in a local paper maybe 10 years ago about a Black preacher who was fishing near Waycross, Georgia.
A giant alligator came after him and he began to back away from it. The gator was gaining on him but he escaped by shifting to forward and veering away before the gator got to him.
If I remember correctly, state game officers killed it and it was about that size. I think the gator had killed some large animal such as a horse and was feeding on it. Probably thought the preacher was trying to get it away from him.
Why? Other than being big and old, what's its purpose? Seems to me that it's doing more good where it is than where it was. I understand that there's nothing in the story to indicate that it was a danger, but it also wasn't out there creating a cure for cancer. It was just a big dumb reptile; now it's at least a good bit of food for a few guys.
I'm surprised more kids aren't killed by alligators, since they seem to be in every fresh water pond, lake, river, or brook in FL.
Only the ones that live in the sewers... 
Have they found Carmen San Diego yet?
I rest my case.
Or a very small brain. This quote tells a lot: "...I always wanted a big toothed gator..."
Seriously, there were reports of 20' gators by early American explorers.
Gators, like all repriles, exhibit "indeterminate" growth. A warm-blooded animal like a lion, grows to a certain fixed size, determined by genetics and environmental factors and then stops growing.
Reptiles, on the other hand, grown as long as they live, although growth rate decreases with age. When the human population of the Country began to grow, probably in the 1700's and early 1800's, larger gators were probably the first to be shot as their size posed a definite therat.
Saltwater crocs, OTOH...brrrrr.
It's purpose was being an alligator, for cryin' out loud. And, as for your comment that it's doing more good now, I guess that depends upon whether you're the alligator, doesn't it?
I've lived here in Florida for 18 years. I've been out in the everglades many times, and also all along the Saint Johns river area (both infested with tons of gators, believe me). I've learned a lot, from friends, about gators. Heck, I've jetskied around them, on the St. Johns. Fallen off many times, too.
A couple of interesting points:
Gators are naturally shy around humans, when you are verticle.
Gators judge whether you are something to eat by how close to your feet your head is. When you are standing up, you can walk around them, in the water. They swim away.
Don't, don't, don't ever squat down close to the edge of a lake, here in Florida, for more than a moment, unless you can see clear to the bottom all around you. If a gator is hidden in the murky water (like most of our inland water), you look like food to a large gator.
Teach your kids that. They love to put their feet in the water, and squat down, and splash. That makes them a target for even a 7-footer.
Dogs usually get taken when they go down to the water and drink. Low head thing. Gators LOVE dog.
Gators can move very fast in a straight line, for a short distance. They can turn around 180 degrees faster than you can react. But they can't turn worth beans when running. If you get chased, zig-zag, and you will be fine (after you change your pants).
The only time you might get chased is from a momma defending her babies, or one guarding a kill. Or from a really hungry, really big one.
There is a small population of salt water crocks at the southern tip of Florida. Dwindling population. One freind was "trolling for lobster" (one guy slowly drives the boat, the other guy hands onto a rope, and when you see the feelers of a Florida lobster (no claws, great taste!), he lets go of the rope and swimns down & grabs it). He went down to the bottom after a lobster, maybe 15 feet, when a dark shado went over. He hugged the bottom until his breath ran out, then practically ran across the water to get back in the boat. He swore it was a giant croc. My friend just laughed.
The radio was on, they interrupted the broadcast, and said that a helicopter piolot just stated there was a 20 foot salt water croc in florida bay.
Took place around 35 years ago.
Translation: They shot it with a gun.
At least they are eating it. To kill it just for fun would be a travesty.
I look at it like I look at deer hunting. It was harvested for food and the benefit was a nice stuffed carcass.
You are correct about the relative aggressiveness of gators versus crocs.
Saltwater Crocs in particular, Nile Crocs, and Cuban Crocs are about the most aggressive towards humans. Gavials or Gharials from Asia are mainly fish eaters and are seldom a threat to humans despite their large size.
Caimans - South American Alligators - are smiliar to Alligators.
"On a steady diet of liberal Democrats, it might reach 20' But since Dems are so full of hot air, it would take a lot them to fill it up."
Nope, won't work. Gators got standards. They rather eat a hunert dogs than one democrap!
Darn, I was hoping they would have caught Ron Zook.
Never ate gator, but here in Wyoming rattlers are known to become fine tasting chili and 'nuggets'. Can you imagine that our local Wally World had frozen gator tidbits for sale? Up-state Wyoming! I don't know if they ever sold them.
Go to a big city. Check the sewers. The gators there hit 50' routinely. ;)
Urban legend.
And pro wrestling? Faked.
LOL
They had this story on our news the other night, it's not far from me. The guy was hoping for a record catch, but dang!, that is a huge gator! He's not going to hunt them anymore...lol.
In Texas, everything is bigger. From the Texas Parks and Wildlife about Brazos Bend State Park: "There are some that measure 15 to 16 feet in length that live here." [Source: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/expltx/eft/bbsp/all_about_gators.htm ]. They say that no one knows the size of the biggest one.
I saw a very big gator at Brazos Bend last March. The park had drained one of its large swampy woody lakes. As a consequence, the gators in that lake had gathered near the remaining water, in this case the creek that runs through the lake and fortunately near the hiking trail in places.
We saw maybe 30-40 gators of various sizes up to about 10 feet in length, mostly along the banks of the creek. Normally most of them would have been out in the huge wooded swamp and not visible to visitors.
Then we heard people on the trail talking about a huge gator they had seen. We went to where they said it was and spotted it maybe 40 yards off the trail. I got a head-on telephoto picture of it with a 500-mm lens. Brush and trees prevented a good side view. It had huge jowls behind and below the eyes. I don't think it was 15 feet long, but it was substantially bigger than the 8-10-footers close to the trail.
I plan to go back the next time they drain the swamp.
ditto here.
lol! Don't tell the game warden, but when I would see one in the water, I'd head for it. Put the fear of humans back into them (that they lost from the idiot tourists feeding them). 800 lbs (with rider) of Sea Doo going 60 mph. Would be like hitting a wake. Bit of a thrill.
The Saint Johns river flows from south to north. It twists and wings, and the current is slow. It opens into countless lakes, then exits as a river again on the other side. One of the lakes, Lake Jessup, has one of the highest number of gators, per acre, in the world. The 407 toll road goes over it for at least a mile, low causeway bridge. If you go over it at night, turn on your high beams, and look at the lake. You will see hundreds of tiny, glowing lights. That's the eyes of the ones that only happed to be pointed in your direction. Yes, I've skied it, once, before I knew it was Jessup.
Sometimes we would ride from just north of Orlando to St. Augustine. Wonderful ride, except for the "No Wake" zones (stupid manatees).
AIRC, snow melt from the appalacians go underground by the foothills of South Carolina, and it flows underground, through Georgia, and North Florida. The Georgia Acquifer, I think they call it. Pops up in central florida, norht of Orlando. Tons of natural springs, pouring out little rivers.
Lots of natural springs feed the Saint Johns, and you can navigate up to quite a few of them, if you know the way. Cold, clear, pure water you can see 50 feet down through, at some of the sources. Cave divers love to die, I mean dive, there.
Very cool ride, exploring. Most of it looks like dinosaur lands.
Hey I got a couple of "on the rug" barfing cats I would like to donate for an alligator's dinner!
That's the rule listed on the Texas Parks and Wildlife site too. On that basis and judging from my photo it could have well been a 14-15 footer. Hard to tell for sure.
I believe a band stick is basically a broom handle, with a round mounted on the end. No barrel, per-se. A nail in the end touches the primer. When you jab something with it, the nail sets of the primer. Shark divers sometimes carry them for self-protection, but I believe they use 12-gage. There are other uses (cough) for short-handled, 12-gage bang sticks, with certain (cough) advantages, but we won't go there. :)
You're a squirrel in a parallel universe?
LOL
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