An American Alligator, caught by hand.


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Hunting Down An Alligator - I am not sure what it is about alligators and crocodiles that gets people so excited. Maybe it has something to do with how glorified gator hunting is shown to be on television, with guys like Steve Irwin (bless his soul!) prancing around wildly, trying to gain control on a humongous croc. The truth, however, is that gator hunting is not even half as amazing and adrenaline pumping as it is shown to be on camera. In fact, it can pretty much be the most mundane job I have ever done because gators are not the most exciting animals to begin with. They are slow and lazy, so usually there is not much that I have to do to catch them, especially if they are as small as the one you see in the picture.

This gator was around 4 feet long and was miniature by gator standards. I basic got hold of it on a voluntary basis rather than being called to do a job. It happened when I was in a neighborhood to trap some critters. By the time I got done with the job and was about to go home, I heard someone shrieking in a nearby home. As it turned out, it was an old lady who had freaked out by the sight of this little gator under her car.

I do understand that the man hunter kind of reputation that gators have, it can end up scaring people. Anyways, all I did was to bend down and grab this gator with my hands. It was not that hard to maneuver it due to its small size. All I needed to be careful about was to hold its mouth with my hand to prevent it from getting too chummy. Later, I just let it go in a nearby lake and that was it.