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A young hunter in Texas has bagged the largest alligator ever certified in the state, weighing 800 pounds and measuring 14 feet, 3 inches. For Braxton Bielski, 18, it was a dream come true because he had grown up with a fascination for dinosaurs and always wanted to hunt prehistoric-looking alligators, sometimes referred to as “living dinosaurs.”

Bryan Zuniga took great pains to get away from a Pinellas deputy who tried to pull him over early Thursday. Instead, he ended up in great pain. After Zuniga stopped his 1995 Nissan SUV in the 7100 block of 78th Avenue, he jumped out and started running away, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

PHOENIX, March 10 (UPI) -- Mr. Stubbs, an Arizona alligator who had his tail bitten off more than eight years ago, now has a prosthetic tail, his keepers say. The 11-year-old, 7-foot-long alligator at the Phoenix Herpetological Society may be the first alligator to be fitted with an artificial tail, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday. The Phoenix newspaper said it may take Mr. Stubbs months to learn to properly use his 3-foot rubber tail, which is attached with nylon straps. "The fact he doesn't try to bite it (the tail) is a good sign," society President Russ Johnson said. "Learning...

An alligator creeping through a Florida neighborhood had to be rescued after it became stuck in a storm drain. The 8-foot-long reptile dove into the roadside drain in Largo, Fla., head first on Friday, according to a news release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office said they were alerted to the distressed gator, which was lurking three blocks from an elementary school, by a passerby, who saw the dark green body sticking out of the drainage opening.

Spurred by the shooting of an off-duty police officer, a three-month joint investigation of a street gang faction ended this week with eight arrests in Summit and Chicago, along with the confiscation of guns, drugs -- and an alligator. After an arrest was made in December's shooting, authorities began an investigation into the Latin Kings gang faction the suspect belonged to, targeting drug sales in Summit and the Chicago Lawn police district on the Southwest Side, according to a CPD news release issued tonight.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- A Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper said a 14-foot alligator he caught in Lake Talquin was the fourth to exceed 11 feet in recent months. Lane Stephens, a contracted alligator trapper with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the most recent mammoth gator he pulled from Lake Talquin was a 14-foot behemoth that nearly matched the state record of 14 feet, 3 1/2 inches, The Tallahassee Democrat reported Wednesday. "I didn't know it was as large as it was," Stephens said. "I knew it was an extremely large gator because the complainant had told me...

A spunky 17-year-old who had his right arm partially torn from his body during a vicious alligator attack, told FoxNews.com that he wants the alligator’s head. "I'm going to use it for a prosthetic armrest," Kaleb Langdale said in an exclusive interview. “I want his head." The Florida teen lost his right arm below the elbow Monday night during an alligator attack. He said he survived by offering the 11-foot alligator his arm, and used the skills he learned by watching TV shows like "Swamp People" to survive the brutal attack. "I'm glad the alligator attacked me, because if it...

Gator bites off hand of Everglades airboat captain EVERGLADES CITY — A 63-year-old airboat captain lost his left hand when an alligator bit it off, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The victim’s name is Wallace Weatherholt of Captain Doug's Everglades Tours on State Road 29. FWC officials said a criminal investigation is pending. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor. POSTED EARLIER An Everglades City airboat captain lost his hand Tuesday afternoon when an alligator bit it off, according to a state wildlife official. The airboat captain was taken to a Naples hospital following the attack, said...

A 9-foot alligator bit a man on his left knee, officials saidA man was bitten and dragged by an alligator when he attempted to retrieve his golf ball from the water in Winter Haven, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Albert Miller, 75, is recovering from his injuries after an alligator lunged out of a pond, bit his left knee and dragged him into the water on April 25, the release said. “He lifted me up three feet and slammed me down,” Miller told The Ledger, referring to the nine-foot alligator. Miller’s friends, who were playing golf with...

LAKE WALES | "You'll never get me to look at a gator, touch a gator or eat a gator," Albert Miller said. He's seen enough of alligators for a while. Miller, 75, is at home recovering from being bitten and dragged by a 9-foot alligator while he was playing golf last Wednesday. Miller was playing a four-ball tournament with his friend, 66-year-old Ted Price last Wednesday at Lake Ashton Golf and Country Club. Price said his ball landed closest to the 15th hole, but Miller had hooked his into the water that borders the green. The golf course uses the...

It looks like a good way for this cat to become a tasty snack. But when the bold feline decided to take on an alligator in New Orleans, he came out remarkably intact. He chose to take on the reptile at an wildlife park just as it was trying to eat some chicken, and began raining blows on its snout. ... The cat may be the bravest or most stupid you've ever seen and a cynic may argue that the gator has been trained not to attack. But who's ever heard of a trained alligator?

CITRA — A foot-long alligator that looked “beat up” and “dehydrated” on the side of the road landed in a man's bathtub to be nursed back to health. But the efforts of good Samaritan Alexander Springer landed him in jail and charged with a second-degree misdemeanor.

A Hastings man and his fiancee came face to face with some unexpected wildlife near Prescott, Wis., on Friday afternoon. Derrick Radke and Cheryl McKenna were boating when they found a 3-foot-long alligator swimming in the Mississippi River, near an island where they had planned to camp. Radke said he initially thought the gator was a muskrat - until it swam toward his 16-1/2-foot fishing boat. Radke went after the gator and got as close as a couple feet as it was sunning itself on a log, seemingly unafraid of him. "I've been on the river all my life," said...

COPELAND, FL (WBBH/NBC) - A 90-year-old woman is recovering after a Good Samaritan saved her from an alligator attack on Wednesday. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission says Margaret Webb was in her front yard near Copeland, FL when the alligator attacked her. Dwain Daniels III was driving by, saw the attack and rushed out of his vehicle to help. "He looked over saw the lady on the ground, half in the water, wheeled around and jumped out of his truck to come to her aid. It appears he was able to pull her away from the gator," said Jayson...

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Police say an 11-year-old North Carolina boy was bitten on the hand by an alligator at a northern Indiana amusement park after a man invited nearby children to pet the 2-foot-long reptile. The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reports the bite Ryan Strand of Concord, N.C, received to one his fingers Sunday wasn't serious. But police are trying to track down the unidentified man who lifted the alligator from its enclosure at Zao (Zay-OH') Island in Valparaiso with a noose and told children they could pet it. The boy's mother, Donna Strand, tells The Times of Munster she and...

INDEPENDENCE, Mo.— An alligator caused a lot of commotion for one Independence man Sunday when three Independence police officers shot at his concrete lawn ornament. Rick Sheridan was working in his garage when he heard gunshots. He went around the back of his house to a pond, where he saw three police officers. The three officers had spotted the gator and were lined up on the bank, shooting at the large reptile. "The officer fired two rounds, and killed my concrete, ornamental alligator," Sheridan said. After realizing their bullets were bouncing off the yard art alligator, police left. Sheridan says...

A Ford Heights man kept an alligator in his home because “chicks dig it,” he told police who arrested him. Dewayne Yarbrough, 43, was arrested Thursday at his home in the 800 block of East 11th Place after the Cook County Sheriff’s animal crimes unit received a tip about Yarbrough keeping the American alligator at his home, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. He faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous animal. Officers obtained a search warrant for Yarbrough’s home and found the alligator in the kitchen there on Thursday, police said. The alligator is...

Yes, it’s true. Another gator has gotten into trouble with the law. This time it involved trying to take a bite out of a patrol car. On Saturday, a 10-foot alligator bit down on the front bumper of a Crown Victoria that belongs to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy driving the car, Victor Borrero, had to slowly back up the vehicle several feet to get the alligator to release the front bumper of the green-and-white car.

For years, drug dealer Gabino Gomez begged authorities for early release from federal prison. He wanted "to make amends for all the shame, disappointment and suffering'' he caused because of "arrogance and stupidity,'' he wrote in one appeal. The pudgy former cocaine distributor, a cog in the massive money-making Colombian cocaine cartels of the 1980s, finally got his wish. A year ago, he walked out of federal prison after serving 23 years of a 30-year sentence. Now investigators think Gomez, 60, forgot those touching words about making amends. He has now become the suspect in a gruesome murder.

They are normally used to catching the odd mouse and avoiding the neighbours' dog.But this cat doesn't seem to be at all bothered by his latest foes -  two huge alligators. Reportedly filmed on a farm in Louisiana, this black cat stalked and stared out his enemies before successfully forcing them to both return to the lake. Ready for battle: The cat gets set to attack the alligator at the Louisiana farm Take that! Realising his chance, the cat lashes out at the alligator with his left paw  On the retreat: Facing up against the brave cat is too much...

A Florida man shot at an alligator to free his dog from its jaws. Tom Martino said he and his Jack Russell terrier Lizabeth were walking along the Hillsborough River in Tampa when the alligator wrestled the 15-pound dog into the water. Martino started shooting into the water around the alligator to scare it into releasing the 9-year-old dog. He performed CPR on the dog until it coughed up water and started breathing again. Lizabeth was being treated for alligator bites and lung injuries from being underwater. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper captured the 5- to 6-foot...

TAMPA, Fla. -- A Florida man shot at an alligator to free his dog from its jaws. Tom Martino says he and his Jack Russell terrier Lizabeth were walking along the Hillsborough River in Tampa on Thursday when the alligator wrestled the 15-pound dog into the water. Martino started shooting into the water around the alligator to scare it into releasing the 9-year-old dog. He performed CPR on the dog until it coughed up water and started breathing again. Lizabeth is now being treated for alligator bits and lung injuries from being underwater. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission...

OKALOOSA ISLAND — A local family remains upset four days after giving their pet turtle to the Gulfarium and watching it get eaten by an alligator. Brenda Guthrie and her 8-year-old son Colton witnessed Tomalina’s death as the red-eared slider disappeared into the alligator’s jaws. When the two looked away from the sight, she said they could hear the crunching of the turtle’s shell. “He was jumping up and down screaming,” Guthrie said of her son’s reaction. “He was shouting, ‘Oh no alligator, let it go.’ ” Guthrie said that they decided to donate Tomalina after the turtle outgrew its...

All of southern West Virginia is buzzing about the big gator found at Upper Mud River Reservoir. The area manager for the Upper Mud River Wildlife Management Area killed the alligator, which measured more than five feet in length after finding the reptile on the banks of the popular fishing water. "We actually got two separate reports about it," said DNR Fisheries Biologist Zack Brown. "They were estimating it was about five feet and they were pretty accurate in their estimation." The reports indicated the gator was up on the bank and in the water. He was shot along the...

Well, it looks like the New Black Panther Party is finally back in the news once again. A couple of months ago, as many of you will remember, Attorney General Eric Holder dropped the voter intimidation case against the Philadelphia chapter after they were caught on video carrying batons at a polling station in ’08, which led to a firestorm of videos being released against the group. Now, a new video has surfaced showing King Samir saying that whites use black babies as ‘alligator bait’, while lambasting Fox News for the coverage after it was found the case was dropped....

Yes, the story's real. And there are pictures to prove it. And the cops were quite exasperated as to just what they were looking at, and where exactly it came from: “We're not sure if it's an alligator or a crocodile because we're not zoologists,” New York City Police Department Spokesman James Duffy told the New York Times. "No one knows where it came from, if it came from the sewer or not.” The urban legends of sewer-dwelling Big Apple reptiles are known worldwide - as are the myths of alligators coming up through the toilets. So it was little...

It may be finally be a death sentence for an elusive alligator that's been terrorizing a St. Pete neighborhood for close to two years now. "It's pretty scary, I got three little ones," says Dion Del Rio. She and her three sons have only been living in St. Pete for a few weeks now, but already they've heard the warnings about a 10-foot alligator lurking in the canals near their 11th St. home. Photo Gallery: Death sentence for St. Pete gator "There's been times I'll take them to the edge of the water just to see the hermit crabs," says...

June 29, 2010 12:59 AM JUAN CARLOS FANJUL BELLE GLADE-- Delanos Brown walked along the canal near his trailer park home looking for any sign of his beloved 1-year-old dog King. Around 7:30pm Monday, the 100 pound Pit Bull mix was drinking water along the canal when a 13-foot-long Alligator lunged at him, took him by the head, and pulled him under. "The gator just grabbed him and took him into a drainage pipe where he's been hiding ever since with my dog's body," he said. Residents who live in the trailer park located at the intersection of Hatcher Road...

A man bitten on the neck by an 11 1/2-foot alligator suffered cuts, bruises and a fractured jaw in the attack Tuesday at the Silver Springs attraction in Ocala. Peter Butt, 54, of High Springs was recovering Wednesday at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. A Shands spokeswoman said he was in good condition. Butt, an environmental consultant, was snorkeling in a canal to monitor the flow of water just after 5 p.m. Tuesday when the 500-pound-plus gator clamped down on his neck. He escaped the jaws and was able to swim to safety.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, - Workers at an Ohio company said a hunting dog spotted a 4-foot alligator near the office and alerted them to its presence. Jeff Tate, who owns Buckeye Caseworks in Columbus, said employee Jeff Colucy was letting his Weimaraner dog , which is trained to spot birds, relieve himself near the building when the canine spotted the reptile, the Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday. "My sales manager was taking his dog out to go to the bathroom, and he went to bring him back in and he was on point -- but not at a bird -- at a...

ORLANDO, Fla.- A Florida shopping mall had an unexpected, and unwelcome, visitor Wednesday when a 10-foot alligator took up residence on a nearby sidewalk, authorities said. Trappers were called to the Millenia Mall in Orlando, Fla., early in the morning to capture and remove the animal, WESH-TV, Orlando, reported. They said more of the reptiles are seen at this time of year when the alligators' mating season begins. "Most of the time when you have a big single alligator, it's usually a male adult searching for a girlfriend," gator trapper Terry Parlier said.

Photographer Says Gators Can't Tolerate Salt Water For LongA South Florida photographer recently captured a rare sight on camera in the Atlantic Ocean off Palm Beach. Laz Ruda photographed an American alligator in a reef about a mile offshore. Regularly found in freshwater lakes and rivers, alligators can tolerate salt water, but only for a short span of time. The salt glands on the American alligator are nonfunctional, unlike that of the American crocodile, according to Ruda's website, TheLivingSea.com. Ruda said he was 60 feet below the ocean's surface when he saw the alligator. "As I cruised along the sand,...

HOLLYWOOD , Fla., March 10 (UPI) -- Members of a U.S. organization dedicated to making alligator wrestling a legitimate sport say facing the large reptiles is not actually that scary. The Miami Herald said Tuesday to reinforce its point, Freestyle Alligator Wrestling Competitions is holding a competition this weekend at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood, Fla. James Holt, who wrestled an alligator Tuesday to help promote the event, said the key to facing down one of the potentially deadly animals is mental acuteness. "The hardest part is making sure you're in the right frame of mind,"...

Police reports are often rich with jargon — phrases like "victim succumbed to his injuries," or "victim advised that defendant did knowingly and willingly enter his home without permission." Not so for a report filed by Tampa police Officer Terry Ashe, who wrote a colorful narrative about an alligator that attacked his city-owned Ford Taurus in Pasco County on Oct. 27. "As I was driving down the single lane, dirt road, adjacent to an old cemetery, I observed a large, menacing, dark object lying in the road obstructing my right of way," Ashe wrote. "With rain pouring down, mist and...

<p>Officials say an alligator bit off part of a golfer's arm as he leaned over to pick up his ball at a private South Carolina course.</p> <p>The man, who is in his 70s, was retrieving his ball from a pond when the 10-foot alligator bit him at Ocean Creek Golf Course in Beaufort County. The gator pulled the golfer into the pond and ripped off his arm in the struggle. His golf partners were able to free him.</p>

A 77-year-old man lost his arm below the elbow Thursday when he was attacked by an alligator while playing golf on Fripp Island. The man, the father of a Fripp Island property owner, was playing the 11th hole of the island's Ocean Creek Golf Course at about 3 p.m. when the attack occurred. The victim was leaning down to pick up his ball when a 10-foot long alligator grabbed his arm, said Kate Hines, general manager of the Fripp Island Property Owners Association. Hines said the alligator dragged the man into a nearby pond and went into a series of...

AN alligator has bitten off part of a golfer's arm as he went to pick up his ball at a private course in the US, reports said today. The man, aged in his 70s, was retrieving his ball from a pond when the 3m alligator bit him at Ocean Creek Golf Course in Beaufort County, South Carolina, the Associated Press reported. The report said the gator pulled the man in and ripped off his arm before his golf partners were able to free him.

At only five years old, Simon Hughes already knows how to use a gun. His early trainning paided off recently, when an 800-pound alligator took some bait at a nearby marsh. Soon, Simon was face-to-face with one big alligator. He quickly grabbed his gun..

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A 16-year-old girl has bagged a 10-foot alligator in a South Carolina swamp. In the middle of the night. With a crossbow. The State newspaper in Columbia reported that Cammie Colin won one of 1,000 lottery slots for the state's annual public alligator harvest. Hunters are required to use a crossbow or a harpoon.

A Louisiana man riding a bicycle with an alligator around his neck was arrested after he dropped the reptile on the ground and ran off as police approached. St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies said they spotted Terron Ingram, 38, riding his bicycle with a 3-foot alligator around his neck Friday in Boutte. The man tossed the gator and jumped off his bicycle when he saw authorities approaching him to ask questions, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Thursday. Capt. Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said deputies do not know where Ingram obtained the alligator. "We don't know what...

An 80-pound Dalmatian has died after being attacked by an alligator at Jacksonville's Hanna Park. A 10-foot alligator was trapped and killed several hours after Saturday's 10:30 a.m. attack. Authorities say they don't know for sure that the one trapped was responsible since they spotted more than one large alligator in the same lake. The dogs' owner, physician Charles Rust, was bitten on the hand by the wounded dog as he tried to wrestle it from the alligator. The alligator lunged and bit the dog's right leg off at the shoulder as it drank from the lake. Rust acknowledged he...

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering alligator hunters no-cost, three-hour classes to help them prepare for the Aug. 15 – Nov. 1 statewide alligator harvest. Reservations are not required to attend a class. Attendance is not mandatory for licensed hunters, but the FWC recommends that participants attend, especially if they have not previously hunted for alligators. Class topics include preparing for the hunt, hunting techniques and safety, harvesting and processing, caring for your alligator hide and alligator hunting rules and regulations. Also, people who do not have an alligator harvest permit can attend if they want...

That man’s best friend thing works both ways, as a lucky Florida dog that was saved from the jaws of a hungry alligator by her owner can attest today. Mandy, a 45-pound Wheaten terrier, sat docilely by her master’s side Thursday as David Grounds, his right hand heavily bandaged, revealed to TODAY’s Meredith Vieira just how far a man will go to save his furry companion.

To some, he's known as "Big Al." Others call him"Norm." He's a 10-foot-long alligator who has earned such nicknames because of his intimidating size. It's his size that now has some worried he could be a danger, while others work to save his life. "Big Al" or "Norm", depending on whom you ask, a large alligator in a Hilton Head lagoon that has some residents worried, and others determined to save. For years, the reptile lived in a lagoon near Port Royal Plantation on Hilton Head Island. That's where he became known as "Big Al." Last week, though, he went...

SEACREST BEACH, Fla. – It sounds more like something out of a freak show: a one-eyed, 3-legged alligator. The gator was captured Thursday morning in Seacrest Beach by Walton County officials. The animal was less than five feet long and had somehow found its way to the beach. A family visiting from Chicago called it the perfect day at the beach. They learned how to tell apart an alligator from a crocodile.

There’s a ghost haunting at the Dallas, Texas Zoo this week! It’s all part of the zoo’s new "Ghosts from the Bayou" exhibit. The star attraction is Boudreaux, a rare 200-pound alligator! "Typically, white alligators - albinos, when they hatch, don't make it to adulthood,� said Bradley Lawrence, Dallas Zoo Reptile Supervisor. “They have health problems. Every predator in the world sees them immediately, and they really don't make it too long in the wild. So it's pretty unique to see one this large."

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Lake County man was attacked by an alligator inside his house Sunday night. The gator crawled through an open door and into the Florida room of the house on Lake Eustis Drive. The man's wife and her friend used a broom handle to try and open the gator's mouth. The house sits right along a canal and it wasn't much distance at all for the little alligator to climb out of the canal, under the gate and right through the back door. "I saw him right here. Right here! That's when I turned around and...

A group of WSU fraternity brothers had to give up their pet alligator after Pullman Police told them it was against the law to keep a gator as a pet. The Delta Upsilon brothers didn't know that until they'd already spent hundreds buying it off the internet and taking care of it. “We were all sitting around one night and we saw an email and website that said you can buy an alligator,” said Lane Quadracci, the pet’s owner. $133 later the reptile was shipped to the Delta Upsilon house in Pullman. “We opened it up and it was just...

Animal caretakers at Jungle Gardens say one of their female alligators has fallen for a most unlikely match. "Attitude", as she's known at the family attraction, is a 25-30 year-old American alligator who has been in captivity at the park for 10 years. Recently, caretakers noticed unusual behavior coming from Attitude each time city garbage trucks would show up to pick up trash. "It's very consistent. Every time they come, she'll pick her head and tail up and let out a huge roar," said Julie Harder, Attitude's caretaker. "It's very loud and intimidating if you're not expecting it." The behavior,...

A white alligator, one of only 12 of its kind anywhere in the world, has been brought in from the swamps of Louisiana.With its piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare Alligator stands out like a sore thumb. Weighing over 500 pounds, 22 year old male Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world. The 500lb, 22-year-old male alligator, Bouya Blan, whose name means white fog, is kept at the Gatorland theme park in Florida. He is one of four giant leucistic alligators kept at the park. "People are awestruck when they see them, and...