A mammoth alligator killed in Okeechobee this past weekend was just short of a state record.
Outwest Farms in Okeechobee posted a picture Saturday of the gator hoisted from a piece of farm equipment on its Facebook page. According to the page, it was killed during a guided gator hunt.
“He measured out just under 15 foot!!” the posts says.
"That's like a baby Godzilla," commented Nat Hormwarn.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Wednesday the gator was 13 feet, 5 inches and weighed 780 pounds.
Some questioned whether the picture had been doctored, while others pointed out the perspective of the picture and the placement of child might make the gator look much larger than it might actually be.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the state’s record for length is 14 feet, 3 ½ inch male gator caught in Brevard County’s Lake Washington.
Florida Memory, the online archive for state government, says the largest recorded alligator in Florida was 17 feet, 5 inches.
