Giant 'dinosaur-looking' gator found on Florida golf course shocks natives

[steve2470]

Last edited Wed Mar 11, 2015, 07:11 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/giant-dinosaur-looking-gator-found-florida-golf-article-1.2145352

A massive dinosaur-like alligator found crawling on a Florida golf course has even the natives shocked.

The giant prehistoric-looking gator was spotted last weekend at the Myakka Pines Golf Club near the Gulf Coast, moving from one pond to another, the Englewood club posted on Facebook.

"Another view of the Gator on the course yesterday," Myakka Pines wrote. "What a dinosaur looking reptile!"

The gator, estimated to be about 13-feet long, has been calling the golf course home for the last week, Myakka Pines general manager Mickie Zada told the Daily News.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. what an interesting hazard.

Don't want to go into the water trap to look for your balls.

[mmonk]

39. Or end up like Chubbs in Happy Gilmore.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. They are just awesome creatures. Like looking back in a time machine.

There's something both fearful and exhilarating about them that will forever intrigue me.

[Arugula Latte]

19. I was in the Everglades one time ...

I got the strangest feeling, a feeling I'd never had before or since, of being whisked back in time eons and eons. The gators were so still and prehistoric ... it gave me a weird vertigo. Amazing sensation.

[BlueCaliDem]

41. I agree 110%. They're beautiful creatures. eom

[SwissTony]

115. That is one gorgeous creature.

I used to live in Darwin in Australia and in certain circumstances (like taking the dog for a walk next to creeks), you had to be aware of the possibilities. But they are magnificent creatures.

[ffr]

3. ...has even the natives shocked?

And those would be??? Probably not someone named Mickie Zada. Was thinking something more Seminole-like, like Nashoba Shiye (Wolf Son).

[randome]

4. Relax everyone. He just swallowed one of these.

I see it in Loony Tunes all the time.


[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[Beaverhausen]

5. Gators all look prehistoric. This one is just plain huge!!!

Eek!!!

[Brigid]

6. Looks like any other gator to me.

Huge, though!

[Mojorabbit]

119. I know right!

We have tons of gators here. He is nice sized but I don't think that is all that unusual. I have a 10 footer in the lake behind my house. He does not bother me and I don't bother him!

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. "Dinosaur looking Gator".....

In other words, an alligator.


I'm wondering if the author of this piece has actually seen an alligator before.

They ALL look like bleedin' dinosaurs, for fucks sake.

[steve2470]

8. yep, nothing unusual about that gator except for its size

I'm guessing 13 feet is really big.

[NCTraveler]

17. 13 feet is really big.

I have been playing in the waters of Florida my whole life and it is rare to see one that is 13 feet. If this one is truly 13 feet. Very possible considering the area. Myakka is know for its large gators. I have seen many over 10 feet, one I would put around 12, not sure about a wild 13 footer. I probably have but unless they are on the bank it is difficult to tell. Not sure if there is all that big of a difference in 3 feet, from 10 to 13. Both can clear out a golf course lake in short order.

[A HERETIC I AM]

46. It is, but all it means is he is old, that's all.

According to Wikipedia, 13 feet is about average for an adult.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator

I lived in Ft. Myers for a time - 06' through 09' and was a regular visitor to a county park (Lakes Park) which was a former quarry, so lots of lakes. I saw one there that had to be every bit of 13 feet. Seen plenty of large gators on trips across the glades, either on I75 or US 41

They do indeed get big.

[NCTraveler]

14. I kept looking at the picture thinking something was going to stand out.

It looks like a gator. It is a gator. I thought I was missing something at first.

[Enrique]

9. pretty cool

I think part of it is that we usually don't see them completely out of the water like that. Also it is big.

[pansypoo53219]

85. 'tall'. he is not creeping low.

[Brother Buzz]

10. You got to play it as it lies

[2naSalit]

29. !!!

[RKP5637]

50. LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[steve2470]

11. 15-feet, 9-inches: world record length for a gator

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/world-record-alligator_n_5738998.html

Caught in Alabama.

[BlueCaliDem]

42. And killed this majestic creature. Ugh!

What a waste.

[csziggy]

56. I don't know - this one looks larger than that

State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/254215

The engravings published by Theodor de Bry in Grand Voyages (1591), after watercolors made by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, are the earliest known European depictions of Native Americans in what is now known as the United States. Le Moyne, a member of the short-lived French colony known as Fort Caroline, based the watercolors on his experiences in Florida in the 1560s. De Bry later published Le Moyne's work, along with other illustrations of the New World, as part of an effort to encourage European colonization in the Americas.

[steve2470]

57. truly monstrous gators! nt

[NCTraveler]

12. Looks like any other gator to me.

It isn't often we get 13 footers so it is rather large if they are accurate on the size. That being said, it wouldn't garner much of a second glance from most Florida natives. Myakka is notorious for its large gators. The Myakka river is packed with them. I have often seen 10 footers. They also love golf courses but are often moved or killed when this large. In Myakka one never has to go far to find large gators.

[Oneironaut]

13. We're gonna need a bigger python

[BlueCaliDem]

44. ROFL!

[Arugula Latte]

15. Yeah, that should stop people from complaining about the Canada geese on the course, eh?

That is one badass prehistoric critter.

[Scootaloo]

90. The geese are scarier n/t

[FLPanhandle]

16. It's about the time of the year for mating

Lots of big bull gators start wandering around this time of year.

They can climb fences and get into golf courses and backyards.

They are a great endangered species come back story too.

[KittyWampus]

67. they can climb fences? Eek!

[Eleanors38]

69. well, until the fence collapses.

[Baitball Blogger]

18. I just realized that points would be taken off on Face-Off

for the tapering of the tail.

I couldn't see what was so distinct about this alligator, but noticed for the first time what a splendid whipping head that tail could be.

[COLGATE4]

20. Brings to mind the old advertisement

with the Chihuahua setting a box trap and calling "Here, Lizard Lizard Lizard"

[hfojvt]

21. where does an 800 pound gator swim?

Anywhere he wants to.

[steve2470]

22. "An Alligator From The Jurassic Era Interrupted A Group of Golfers In Florida"

http://uproxx.com/sports/2015/03/alligator-golf-course-florida/

Bwahahaha! Oh please!

[mmonk]

23. I'm sure other dinosaur looking reptiles like Rick Scott aren't.

[dogindia]

24. did they kill him

probably.

Several years back I spent some time to call Florida to save another one and was told they always kill them

Florida is a horrific state which will soon be under water if the governor has anything to say about it.

[Orrex]

33. On the plus side...

there'll be more room for the alligators.

[steve2470]

25. The headlines on Google News just slay me: Terrifying, Gigantic, Monstrous, Dino-like

These headline writers: a) must have never lived in Florida and/or b) are reaching for the most extreme headlines for clicks.

[LeftinOH]

26. So...what are you supposed to do when you see one?

Having never seen one in the wild, I'm curious. Run like hell, right?

[steve2470]

27. Walk away slowly. Gators can actually run pretty fast at first, for a short distance.

One more tip: Do NOT walk your small dog by a river, canal, pond or lake in Florida. Your cute doggie may end up as a tasty snack for a gator.

ETA: The "slowly" reference is to not making the gator think you are prey.

[2naSalit]

37. Indeed.

Predators chase after things that run. It's part of their nature, they look scary and that makes prey run which gives them away. It's kind of like a reflexive response. Bears chase things that run too and humans can't outrun them.

[Jamastiene]

121. Unless there are two humans and one bear.

Then all you have to do is outrun the other human.

[Baitball Blogger]

77. Because they are explosively fast, moving in a straight line,

it's best to run away from them in a zig-zag pattern.

We haven't tested our theory yet.

[steve2470]

78. I had forgotten about the zig-zag thing, true! nt

[wheniwasincongress]

82. I believe

they say not to do the zig-zag run, as that can trip you up.

[SwissTony]

114. I ran this theory past my professor in university.

He said "When do you zig and when do you zag"?

I said "Trial and error".

Oh, how we laughed.

[FLPanhandle]

31. They usually won't bother you

Most of the time, they are pretty shy.

Mating season the bulls wander around but just keep your distance.

What's amazing is when tourists come down and try to take pictures with them. I guess because the gators are sunning and not moving much the tourists think it's safe. Most of the time, the tourists just get a big scare. Sometimes it's a bite though.

[Arugula Latte]

35. Go change your underwear.

[A HERETIC I AM]

47. "what are you supposed to do when you see one?"

Take a mental inventory of your shoe and luggage collection and determine if this is the right gator for your wardrobe.

[alarimer]

91. Make sure you are accompanied by a slower friend.

You don't have to be faster than the gator, just faster than your friend.

[bluedigger]

99. Just don't be the slowest one in your group.

You'll be fine.

[Jamastiene]

120. With any predator, running is the worst idea.

Walk away slowly and, in the case of gators, AWAY from the edge of any pond, lake, or other body of water. Better yet, if you know you are in areas where there are alligators (pretty much anywhere in the southeast, but especially in Florida), don't linger near the edge of any body of water.

[Blue_Tires]

127. aim for the head

[BeyondGeography]

28. And some people complain about snow

[eppur_se_muova]

64. OK, now I'm picturing a made-for-cable movie ... "Gatorblizzard" ...

Diving into snowbanks could be a whole new experience.

[Jamastiene]

122. You probably just gave SyFy another movie idea.

They will probably make that movie now, lol.

[Orrex]

30. If this thing showed up in the bathtub of most DU'ers...

I'm sure that the 911 call would go something like:

"I'm calling to report a totally normal-sized alligator that should in no way be described as dinosaur-like, because the most important thing in cases like this is to avoid any hyperbole for dramatic effect."

[Yo_Mama]

49. It would not fit in a bathtub.

It would be startling in any one's house. It's not really startling in a lot of Florida.

[Orrex]

59. Well, yeah. It was more of a joke on a long-running DU tradition

Whatever the issue, no matter how surprising or noteworthy, we can rely on a contigent of DUers to trip over themselves in their eagerness to tell the world how mundane they find the 13-foot alligator or whatever.


I was riffing on that whole world-weary hipster vibe, rather than on the likely size of anyone's bathtub.

[Matariki]

106. It just makes it funnier that you had to explain that

[Orrex]

113. No comment.

[Brigid]

100. Brigid's 911 call:

"There's a huge freakin' gator in my bathtub! And he's looking at me! And BTW, my two cats are missing! And what the hell is a gator doing in Indiana? How big is it? How should I know? I didn't measure it, for crying out loud!"

[Orrex]

103. See? That's more like it!

For my part, I think they'd hear a frenzied string of profanity followed by a violent crunching and maybe a gurgle.

[Tanuki]

32. It looks as if it has been eating really well. n/t

[Buns_of_Fire]

45. I would guess warmer weather is bringing out the golfers. nt

[randome]

34. .

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[Gidney N Cloyd]

36. That's almost as big as the roaches down there.

[RKP5637]

52. LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RebelOne]

74. I grew up in South Florida and remember

well the giant roaches, especially the palmetto bugs which had wings and could fly. I lived in an apartment where were some and they would fly and dive bomb me.

[Phentex]

104. Ba dum-ching!

[FLPanhandle]

38. You have to watch where you swim in Florida

[steve2470]

40. very true! nt

[Eleanors38]

72. yep, wouldn't swim in anything a gator won't touch.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

43. Shooooooooooes!

just kidding!

[Yo_Mama]

48. Looks like any other gator to me. It's large, but not the largest I have seen.

I'm guessing play is rather impeded, though. At that size they are quite dangerous.

[notadmblnd]

51. He'd make a great pair of shoes and matching handbag.

[geek tragedy]

53. 13 feet is a really big alligator, but American crocodiles can get much bigger than that nt

[trumad]

54. LOL...

Very typical around where I live. I like near the St. Johns River in Central Florida. Lake Jessup runs into the River. On a nice warm day you can see dozens of these big guys as you drive over the lake.

I've seen them in runoff ponds and just about anywhere with water.

[adigal]

55. I hope they just gave him space and time to move along

We can't just kill everything that scares us. These are scary creatures, but they've been here for millions of years and are really very cool.

I do admit, though, a fascination with how you know they are in a lake before you swim in it in Florida? We have wonderful lakes here in upstate NY, and everyone swims in them. Are there gators in every southern lake?? And wasn't there one in the ocean in the Carolinas in the fall?? I know crocs will run out of the ocean in Australia, grab you, and pull you in!

[ancianita]

112. They need heat. So, if it's 70 or below, they just can't move fast, and hibernate in a swampy area.

They don't"travel" except during mating season, spring, when bulls return to a previous nest. Then the mother chases the young gators out or they'll get eaten. Young gators then roam to wherever there's water, sometimes by following the water they're in or sometimes by going across land.

In many Florida counties, if your water is near your house, you can get any gator removed that's five feet long or over. Even though they're in brackish or fresh water, they don't like busy, noisy, human-filled areas, so you might be able to swim in large bay areas.

Gators don't travel for food. That's what crocodiles do in fast moving rivers. Crocodiles are the real dangerous reptiles and infest most waterways in Australia. Gators prefer to lie around, let their food swim by. Seriously. They'd have to be vexed by some human to even bother chasing them.

TMI, probably, but I winter in Florida and find it kinda fascinating, too.

If you don't want gators, stick to salt water on the coasts.

[adigal]

130. Thanks for that information - fascinating!

I'm glad they have made a comeback.

[ancianita]

131. Have they ever. After decades of hunting regulations, they've over-reproduced. Plus, as mini-golf

courses put hundreds of gator babies into their decorative 'canals' for people to feed, they just dump them out in any nearby waterway to distribute themselves into the wild. So yeah, humans are a factor in their skyrocketing numbers.

[LibertyLover]

58. I'd take a 4 stroke penalty

and move to the next tee.

[blogslut]

60. Groan. What is this "dinosaur-looking" nonsense?

Alligators are dinosaurs.

[eppur_se_muova]

66. Ummm no ... just close relatives.

Archosauria, the archosaur clade, is a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor of living birds and crocodilians. It includes two main clades: Pseudosuchia, which includes crocodilians and their extinct relatives, and Avemetatarsalia, which includes birds and their extinct relatives (such as non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archosaur

[HockeyMom]

61. Snowbirds freak out over Gators in Golf Course Lakes

Yeah, where I live (Naples) they are in the lakes. The golfers go crazy when they see them. If these gators leave the tropical birds alone on the banks, they will leave YOU and your CLUBS alone if you don't bother them. Lived here for 7 years and have never seen them come on up dry land.

Of course, none of them are 13 feet long.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

63. If you go to Shark Valley in the Everglades and walk down the bike path....

...you'll come across sometimes dozens of alligators literally a few feet off the path. At no point do they ever attack you. It's surreal.

[HockeyMom]

79. Yes, been there

They are all around on the land too. My husband and his coworker have ridden their bikes in Shark Valley many times. No gator ever attacked them.

[joeybee12]

62. That's an amazing looking guy (or maybe girl)...knr

[edbermac]

65. "Paging Carl Spackler"

[Eleanors38]

68. The campus cops at U of F escorted a gator from one pond to another in '67 when I was attending

Classes. Right there, in the old campus area, scores of onlookers. When they want to go overland, they Will go overland.

[edhopper]

75. Were you around when Gatorman was there?

He was there in the early 70s when I was there, use to swim with the gators.

[Eleanors38]

94. just before. Successors swim Lake Alice in connection with research projects...

Half a century ago, my Dad and I fished Biven's Arm Lake off a spit. Had to chase sunning gators off to get to the point. Some real knockers in that lake, but the biggest are in Alachua Sink Park SE of town on Payne's Prairie. Scores of 'em, some pushing 14ft. The ranger there thinks there are 16 footers. This approaches to legendary 20 footers once believed to be in the upper St. Johns River.

[edhopper]

102. I remember the ones in

Alice and Bivens.

[Matariki]

109. Wow. This is a real education. It's like a whole other country.

The only think we have to worry about here in the Pacific Northwest is Sasquatch. And real estate developers.

[Eleanors38]

129. Well, Florida has the developers alright...

The U of F has 2,000 contiguous acres in SW Gainesville, which includes a sizeable lake and a number of sink ponds. Its immediate property borders Biven's Arm Lake. As a kid, I remember the west side of the school's property was traced by a graded dirt road up until 1961. You would pass the University golf course and the grassy-domed nuclear reactor on the way to a dove field west of town. Quite a culture, and I miss it.

[FLPanhandle]

88. I went there and my daughter goes to UF now

How to act around all the gators is part of orientation now.

[Eleanors38]

89. fished and hunted from leaky Jon boats, never a prob. Class o' 70.

[FLPanhandle]

92. Class of 84

We used to swim and sail in Lake Wauburg; that place had over 100 gators. It was rare there was a problem and if so, it was always some drunk student trying to ride one.

[steve2470]

95. trying to ride one ?? seriously ? nt

[FLPanhandle]

116. Oh yes. It never ends well. nt

[Eleanors38]

96. Swam and fished Wauburg in the 50s thru the 70s. The only injury was when a student disregarded a

don't swim sign, placed near the dock and floats when personnel were chasing off nesting female gators. Arrogance and petty defiance are poor substitutes for free will and personal enablement.

[steve2470]

70. "Life-Threatening Snow Bombards Boston and Northeast" = equivalent headline

Granted, there probably were a few close to that.

[hifiguy]

71. They should be thankful they don't have saltwater crocodiles

down there. Especially crocs that weigh a ton and are 21 feet long.

http://travel.aol.co.uk/2014/04/03/worlds-largest-crocodile-captured-and-killed/

[steve2470]

73. now THAT's a huge croc! nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

97. They have a few at the southern tip of the peninsula.

But none that grow 21 feet long, fortunately.

[WilliamPitt]

76. Looks normal to me.

The NY Daily News editor for this story needs to get out of the city more often.

[shanti]

80. One of many reasons

I'd never live in Florida.

[HockeyMom]

81. Gator Boys at Everglades Seafood Festival

They put on a demonstration one year that we went there. My husband watches their TV show all the time. It was very crowded and we could barely get near where they were giving their demonstration.

Gator Boys truly have a love and respect for these animals which I deeply admire.

[wheniwasincongress]

83. The writing is terrible

He's an alligator-looking alligator! Anything relating to science is nearly guaranteed poor writing. Near-death experience articles are notoriously awful...

[woodsprite]

84. My MILs property backs up to a body of water that adjoins that golf course

They were cautioned to check under their cars before getting in because gators like to shade themselves. She had to get my FIL to chase a gator out of their garage. She left the door open when she was moving things to the potting shed area and came back to find an 8' gator in the garage. There is a worn path the beasts take from the water that goes right between her and her neighbors house. I guess they try to get to the canals behind the houses across the street. All that being said, we loved watching the babies play at the edge of her yard last year, but stayed a safe distance away. Didn't want to make momma gator mad!

[steve2470]

87. gator in the garage would definitely make me involuntarily incontinent! nt

[appalachiablue]

86. In the Space Coast FL area driving through a neighborhood on a narrow road next to a canal

there was an alligator going into a yard fountain which I mentioned to folks in the car. Our Indian friend took special notice. Once saw golfers surprised by a couple coyotes on a golf course one morning even though they each had bags of iron sticks. Nature rules.

[alarimer]

93. So is the gator out-of-bounds?

If play is impeded by gator, do I have to take a penalty stroke?

It's golf; gators must be covered under the rules somewhere.

[JoePhilly]

98. But was he on the green in two?

[dembotoz]

101. breaking news-giant dinosaur alligator proves earth still only 6000 years old claims rep senator

see they are still around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TeamPooka]

105. I'd let him play through if he was behind my foursome. nt

[Rex]

107. LOL! NOT dinosaur looking! Dinosaur prodigy!

That is the thickest tail I've eva seen on a crocodilian! WOW!

[anotojefiremnesuka]

108. Alligators have been around for over 30 milliom years so the best advice is to

not f around with something that was around before man was.

No fur, claws or sharp teeth humans are a tasty treat!

[steve2470]

110. Godzilla gator hits the links in Florida

http://www.sfgate.com/national/article/Godzilla-gator-hits-the-links-in-Florida-6127924.php

[SwissTony]

117. How about some sharks? In Australia, of course.

[steve2470]

118. amazing nt

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

111. It would have been better if it was like these:

Then they can become members of the Club and not have to sneak around the ponds.

[raccoon]

123. "The giant prehistoric-looking gator " -- This writer is an idiot. All gators look prehistoric.

Sensationalism, anyone?

[raccoon]

124. No way would I go anywhere near that golf course! nt

[steve2470]

125. yes they do, an obvious clickbait kind of headline, which got my attention admittedly nt

[underpants]

126. I see that it is on all fores

[Roland99]

128. Dinosaur-like? Prehistoric-looking?

nice sensationalist headlines and prose. oy vey.

gators are everywhere in FL. So this one is well above average in size. To me, no big deal.

[steve2470]

132. I'm biased of course but...

I love these kind of threads in GD. Something silly to have pleasant conversation over!

Chomp!