Big Deer-Even Bigger Gator!!!

[Boyd Gathwright]

Just received this E-mail this morning.

......This was taken by a KTBS helicopter flying over Cross Lake! (For those of you who are not local, Cross Lake is in Shreveport, La.) That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth! Are you ready to go skiing on Cross Lake?! If you ski at the west end of the lake -- try not to fall. :eek:


Boyd

.<O:p</O:p

[Charles McKinley]

I'l take snow over big bugs and even bigger uglier reptiles any day of the week.

[Donnie Raines]

That why I am a pasty white color.....I'z dont do water.... :D

[Kevin Arceneaux]

That is a big gator.

I'll have to call a buddy of mine, a Louisiana State Game Warden and ask if you shoot the gator, do you need a tag for the deer also?

[Dennis Peacock]

That is a big gator.

I'll have to call a buddy of mine, a Louisiana State Game Warden and ask if you shoot the gator, do you need a tag for the deer also?

Very funny Kevin...!!! Funny indeed.!!! :D

[Chris Padilla]

The first pic looks fake to me but the bottom one looks real therefore I guess they are both real. Pretty cool if it's legitimate.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

CRIKEY!!!!! She's a BEEEUTY! (Where is Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter when ya really need him?) :rolleyes: Man, that is one BIG Gator! I don't think I will be fishin' in Cross Lake anytime soon. VERY cool picture.............real or not! :D

[Michael Ballent]

CRIKEY!!!!! She's a BEEEUTY! (Where is Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter when ya really need him?) :rolleyes: Man, that is one BIG Gator! I don't think I will be fishin' in Cross Lake anytime soon. VERY cool picture.............real or not! :D
I do not think that there would be very many fish in there just to keep that monster happy ;)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Could someone give me accurate lines of longitude and latitude for Cross Lake? I want to be sure to stay well away from it! :D

[Rob Bourgeois]

This could be a fake...

I got it in the email and it said it was from South Carolina. Being from Louisiana I would have remembered if it was there.

I have seen a gator down on the coast of Lousiana in Rockefeller Refuge that was estimated by the biologist with us to be in the 14 to 16 foot range so I know its possible that they get that big. The gator we saw looked like it could have easily taken down a deer or me. Pretty scary when the airboat that you are in sits about 12 inches off the water and is only 12 ft long.

[Jason Roehl]

The photos look good to me, but here's some evidence on the alleged caption:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/gatordeer.asp

[Chris Padilla]

I'm staring at it some more and the head of the deer seems wrong in the first pic...shouldn't it be flopped the other way assuming the gator is moving forward? Also, I don't see any water lines from the deer's shape although maybe there wouldn't be any if it is totally underwater. Also, I see no distortion of the deer looking through the water.

The second pic, however, looks real good if it is fake. They got the shadow lines and everything and it looks good to me.

[Donnie Raines]

If the neck was broke and the head is hanging...thats an aweful heavy item to see 'push' back as it moves forward.Plus, it looks as though it kinda is going slightly back......kinda.

[Jason Roehl]

I'm staring at it some more and the head of the deer seems wrong in the first pic...shouldn't it be flopped the other way assuming the gator is moving forward? Also, I don't see any water lines from the deer's shape although maybe there wouldn't be any if it is totally underwater. Also, I see no distortion of the deer looking through the water.

The second pic, however, looks real good if it is fake. They got the shadow lines and everything and it looks good to me.
I've been around a few dead deer. Those heads go anywhere and everywhere before rigor mortis sets in. It looks in the first pic (to me) that the deer may not be fully submerged, and that the head is actually hanging primarily down.

[Ian Barley]

I think that this is really interesting. Have we reached the point where a photograph cannot ever again be taken as proof that an event really happened? I have no idea whether these pictures are true or not and cannot say that it particularly exercises my emotions, but it does just make you wonder what is and isn't believable.

I am also not an expert on the feeding habits of alligators (thankfully the most vicious predator in our wildlife anthology is the badger!!!), but there are certainly some things that would make me think twice:-
The deer looks pretty big - wouldn't there have been some struggle which would probably have resulted in skin being broken?

Would an alligator remove prey from a kill site? I suspect that alligators are top predator in their ecosystem and top predators tend to consume their kills in situ?

If an alligator were to move a kill wouldn't it choose a more comfortable/convenient part of the carcass to hang onto? That deer has to have a substantial bely and a midriff of pretty large proprtions - I would have thought that the neck or leg would have been a more likely spot to grab?

Another seperate note - my two favourite wildlife warning signs both seen in the US

First at Kennedy space centre at the edge of the car park - "This area is infested with venomous snakes". Not "contains" - "infested". Now if that doesn't keep you off the grass.

Second at Celebration in Florida - forget exact wording but it is to the effect "It is an offence to feed or harrass alligators". Trust me harrassing alligators is nowhere in my panteon of vacation activities.

[Chris Padilla]

I think that this is really interesting. Have we reached the point where a photograph cannot ever again be taken as proof that an event really happened?
I can't speak for the collective but I have grown cautious after being burned one too many times passing stuff around (emails and/links).

Just a little while ago I posted about the 6 lb. burger in Pennsylvania. Originally, the email said it was 9 lbs. It wasn't a typo because it repeated the weight several times in the email. After a quick Google, I found the original site and had to edit my post.

Ian, there are just too many good software programs and too many people with too much time on their hands. After all, the US has newly designed money to help prevent counterfeiting...the technology is that good and is available to any Tom, Dick, or Harry.... (apologies to any Tom, Dick or Harry reading this.... :) )

[Rob Littleton]

Ian, you might remember that song in the mid 80's, "my camera never lies anymore.............". Ironice, 20 years ago there would be no question. Certainly a good point I never thought of.

[Michael Perata]

I have to go with Chris on this one.

Aligators do not store food, they do not chew food and they don't carry food.

Alligators and crocodiles need to tear their food apart by twisting and that is done immediately with large kills. In fact, that is how the deer would've been killed.

Also, if you look at both pictures there is a bright reflection on the alligators head that shouldn't be there in one picture.

[Donnie Raines]

Has anyoen considered that the deer may have been sick and died near the waters edge???...and that the gator simply took the carcass??....they are killers but also scavengers.

Oh well...cool pix any how....

[Kevin Arceneaux]

Gators do both. They may eat theri kill on the spot or move it closer to their nest. A kill this big would be moved to the nest. Also, their may not be marks other than the original atttack.

BTW, I did talk to my friend and he said that he had heard about this, but was not sure if it was real or not. He told me he found a lot of bone of larger animals near gator dens and an LSU professor told him that they will drag larger prey to what they consider a "safe area" and go back for more until it is eaten completely.

As far as visitors to the area, I have seen more than my share of complete idiots. I watched one one day slide down a bank so they could stand about a foot above the gator to get their picture taken. When we started hollering at them to get the &&*$% out of their, they told us they had READ ALL ABOUT gators and knew that when the sun was shining on them, they get lethargic and that is was safe to do that. Luckily (I guess) the gator wasn't hungry.

They can make life interesting, down in the Rockefeller Preserve. I used to go do a lot of crabbing down there and at times they would come after the bait (chicken necks). That was taken as a sign to go find another place to go crabbing. They also make life interesting for utility linemen, esp, after a hurricane.

[Paul Downes]

It's hard to guess just how big either critter is. I've always called those Southern deer 'dog deer' cause they aren't much bigger than a dog. Now if that was a Northern Michigan Deer, well that would have to be one big gator. :D We regularly see deer up here that dress out to 250 lbs. That would make them 300 lbs. on the hoof. I can't remember for sure, but I think the Florida State record Gator ran something like 19 or 20 ft. 1800 lbs.