The following is an email I received from NAHC. Pretty neat if its real or a good photoshop job if it isnt. April 2, 2009 Alligator Hunts Deer: April Fool's Joke Or Not? You might have seen this photo floating around the Internet yesterday and wondered: Is this for real? One e-mail chain claimed this photo had not been doctored and showed a 14-foot-long gator swimming across Louisiana's Cross Lake with a full-grown deer between its jaws. It appears the photo is legit, but the story is a croc. Some determined digging revealed that the photos were not taken at Cross Lake, as reported, but rather at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, some 40 miles south of Savannah, Georgia. The photos were taken by Teri Jenkins, a fire management officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). She spotted the gator on March 4, 2004, as she was preparing to ignite a prescribed fire. "One advantage of fire work is you get to see that 12- to 14-foot alligators are common in South Carolina and Georgia," says Jenkins, who had the good fortune of watching the alligator from the safety of a helicopter. The gator, meanwhile, had the good fortune of a free pass, as the FWS stated, "The alligator will not be charged with hunting deer out of season, animal cruelty, or any of several possible water quality violations."
Yeah I just found this when doing a little research on the web. http://www.hoax-slayer.com/gator-with-deer.html and here http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/r04-073.html
I wouldnt be suprised if it was real. Ive seen some BIG gators in my life. There is a lake about 5 min from my house that has the highest population of gators of any lake in the state of FL and It has some BIG ONES!! Im talkin over 14' in lenght.
Whoa, that is one big gator! I could definitely see a gator taking a deer by the waters edge when it was drinking.
No reason I would believe it was fake. I have read several accounts of large gators and snakes taking prey that large. I use to have a reptile zoo in my house. I bred and raised snakes, lizards, chameleons and geckos. And I have had a couple of large animals that I had to be careful with.
Seen several partially eaten deer around lakes in GA. Big Birds too, would see wings laying around from water turkeys all the time. Gators are alot faster in the water then most give them credit for, Had one snatch a spinnerbait right out of the air one time.
