Four men kill alligator more than four meters long

Mississippi
After seven hours of fighting, four men kill an alligator that is more than four meters long

4, 30 meters long, 364 kilograms – the alligator that four men shot in Mississippi is the largest specimen ever killed in the US state.

Donald Woods, Will Thomas, Joey Clark and Tanner White have caught the catch of a lifetime: the four men from Mississippi have bagged a giant alligator. The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks said it was the longest alligator ever killed in the state, according to the AP news agency.

The size and weight of the animal are impressive: it is 4.30 meters long and weighs a full 364 kilograms. When the hunters had their prey photographed, it had to be attached to a forklift with ropes. This was preceded by an hour-long struggle. Donald Woods, who has a hunting license, was out west on the Sunflower River with his friends Mississippis on the way when he encountered the monster.

Hours of battle between hunters and beast

“We went out on the water at dusk. We saw a lot of alligators, eight feet long, ten feet long,” Woods told The Clarion-Ledger newspaper. “But that wasn’t what we were looking for.”

He and his comrades have already shot some alligators that were twelve feet long. But they hadn’t messed with an animal like the one they’ve just caught. “His back was huge,” recalls Woods. “It was like following a fishing boat.” However, they were not aware of the actual size of the alligator when they had the animal on the hook. The river dweller fought back for seven hours, dragging the hunters’ boat back and forth.

The alligator broke free several times. “It was exhausting, but you’re full of adrenaline so you don’t notice it. It was mostly mental because he kept running,” said Donald Woods. After seven hours, at dawn, the four men pulled the animal onto their boat. To see how big it was was “surreal,” Woods explained.

Mississippi alligators can grow up to 20 feet in length. However, three and a half to four meters are normal. In the US, nine states issue licenses to hunt the animals.

Sources: AP / “The Clarion Ledger”

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