What is the heaviest alligator ever caught in Florida?

The state record is 14 feet, 3 1/2 inches for a male caught in Brevard County's Lake Washington, the state says. There's a separate weight record: A 1,043-pound (13 feet, 10 1/2 inches long) male gator was caught in Alachua County's Orange Lake, FWC says.

What happens if you run over an alligator in Florida?

The safer option is to stop as quickly as you can and avoid swerving. Plus, injuring or killing an alligator is punishable by law in Florida and carries a fine of up to $2,500 and 30 days in jail . “Running over an alligator can be deadly for the alligator and the driver alike,” says Rosenblatt.

What state has the most gators?

Louisiana and Florida have the largest alligator populations—there are more than one million wild alligators in each state. Although alligators can be found in ponds, lakes, canals, rivers, swamps, and bayous in Louisiana, they are most common in our coastal marshes.

What is the largest alligator ever hunted?

Permit holders may catch two alligators over 4 feet long (1.2 m) and one over 7 feet long (2.1 m), so as to distribute the hunting pressure across adult and juvenile animals. The biggest American alligator ever recorded was a 15-foot, 9-inch giant caught in Alabama in 2014 that weighed 1,011.5 pounds (459 kg) .

Florida alligator weighing over 900 pounds could have been 90 years old when caught (2024)

Florida alligator weighing over 900 pounds could have been 90 years old when caught (1)

A huge alligator weighing almost 1,000 pounds (455 kilograms) has been caught in Florida — the second heaviest in state history. The supersized reptile, which was likely between 60 and 90 years old, measured over 13 feet long (4 meters) when hunters hauled it in on Aug. 26.

U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Kevin Brotz, a hunting guide from Florida Gator Hunting and Get Bit Outdoors, was with friends on a lake near Orlando when they noticed a huge alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) swimming away from them, he told Field and Stream. They spent around four hours battling with the alligator, and at one point it leapt 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 m) out of the water. "It looked like a blue whale when it breached," Brotz told the site.

After pulling the alligator on board, they killed it and took it to shore where it was weighed and measured. It came in at 920 pounds (417 kg) and 13.06 feet. That makes it the second heaviest ever caught in Florida. The heaviest weighed 1,043 pounds (473 kg) and was caught in 1989.

Florida alligator weighing over 900 pounds could have been 90 years old when caught (2)

Brotz told Live Science in an email that catching alligators of this size is extremely rare. "I've guided hundreds — if not close to a thousand gator hunts — and this one is absolutely in a league of its own."

Florida is home to an estimated 1.3 million gators. This one was killed as part of Florida's statewide alligator harvest program, which has run since 1998 and helps to keep the population in check.

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Brotz's catch follows the capture of an 802-pound (364 kg) alligator that was 14 feet and 3 inches (4.34 meters) long — the longest ever caught in Mississippi. This alligator was killed during Mississippi's 10-day alligator hunting season.