Although alligators of any size can deliver a nasty bite, it is the larger specimens that attract the most attention and cause the most fear.
Today we’re going to take a look at some of the largest alligators in the world by length and learn some unique facts about each.
Tom Grant’s Alligator
Location: Mississippi
After already making a name for himself by catching a previous gator that measured 12 feet, 9 inches, Tom Grant and his hunting buddies put up quite a fight with this giant gator before finally getting it ashore.
This big catch had a belly circumference of 65 inches and took the hunters an hour and a half to land.
Surprisingly, alligators of this size are not uncommon in the Mississippi Delta area because the habitat is perfect for them.
Fellow gator hunter Kenny Winter, who then helped tie the gator to the trailer, said the catch was so heavy he broke the winch!
Mike Cottingham’s Gators
Location: Arkansas
Mike Cottingham brought this giant to a private hunting club and immediately recognized it as an unusually large local specimen.
This alligator’s head alone weighed nearly 300 pounds, and a local herpetologist, after examining the body, estimated the specimen to be about 36 years old.
Cottingham was quite proud of his role and said he planned to put the head on it and make himself a pair of boots with the rest of the skin.
Cottingham’s giant alligator was so heavy that it took five people to lift it into his boat!
Big Tex
Location: Texas
After losing his fear of humans and causing concern that he might pose a serious threat to humans at the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, Big Tex was put down Texas-style and relocated.
Wildlife refuge officials measured the behemoth reptile and immediately concluded it was the largest alligator ever caught alive in Texas history.
After being removed from the wildlife sanctuary, Big Tex found his home in a safely equipped exhibit area at Gator Country, an alligator rescue facility and adventure park.
Big Tex is shown alongside another massive gator named Big Al, who weighs 1,000 pounds and is 13 feet 4 inches tall.
Alligator by Robert Ammerman
Alligator hunter Robert “Tres” Ammerman was lucky enough to land this amazing gator on the last day of the 2017 season.
Ammerman said he could tell he found a big one as soon as he saw the size of the gator’s head.
The catch was too big to get into the boat, so he had to literally land it by dragging it ashore – after the angry gator dragged the boat around for 45 minutes first!
However, no one has been able to get close enough to the Big Humpback to get an accurate measurement.
Lee Lightsey and Blake Godwin’s Alligator
Length: 15 feet
Location: Florida
Location: Florida
Source: flickr.com
Source: flickr.com
This huge alligator was caught in a cattle pond in Okeechobee after several cattle went missing and their remains were found in the water.
This terrifying specimen was so huge that it took a farm tractor to pull it out of the water after Lee Lightsey shot it.
Blake Godwin was thrilled after they measured the giant gator, saying, “It’s hard to believe something this big exists in the wild.”
The winning alligator hunters donated the meat of this huge specimen to charity and had the rest of their trophy catches taxidermied.
Stokes alligator
Length: 15 feet 9 inches
Length: 15 feet 9 inches
Length: 15 feet 9 inches
Length: 15 feet 9 inches
Length: 15 feet 9 inches
Location: Alabama
Source: wikimedia.org
Source: wikimedia.org
Source: wikimedia.org
Source: wikimedia.org
The Stokes alligator is the largest officially verified alligator in the world by length.
Mandy Stokes had been hunting deer and boar for several years, but she was very lucky when she killed this record holder on her first alligator hunt.
She wore her pearls and perfume on the hunt, but had no problem sticking them off during the hour and a half struggle it took to land her half-ton gator.
The Stokes alligator was so huge that it completely broke the winch that was normally used to weigh the local gators!