Courtesy: Tyler Stolting via Valencia Golf and Country Club Facebook
Godzilla is that you?
Check out this monster-sized alligator roaming the Valencia Golf and Country Club early Wednesday morning.
Courtesy: Tyler Stolting via Valencia Golf and Country Club Facebook
The video was captured by Tyler Stolting, the first assistant golf professional, who was driving by the 17th hole on the course when he noticed the dinosaur-esque gator roaming across the tee box, per the Naples Daily News.
As most Floridians know, gators are a ubiquitous sight in the state and even on golf courses, but this big fella looks like something prehistoric from Jurassic Park.
As Tropical Storm Eta brought rain and winds across Florida’s west coast, forcing people indoors, it also brought this behemoth along with it, leaving many to rightfully question if it was real or not.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state record for a gator is a 14-foot 3 1/2-inch male from Lake Washington in Brevard County, and the weight record for a gator is a 1,043 pound (13 feet 10-1/2 inches long) male from Orange Lake in Alachua County.
The gator can be seen strutting across the greens on all fours with thrashing winds and rain, completely unbothered.
In an interview with the New York Post, Stolting said he was shocked to see such a big gator. “I was a little shocked, obviously. It was pretty big, biggest one I’ve ever seen!”
Estimates of the alligator size have been floating around the internet, with most guesstimating the gator was ‘easily’ 10 feet long, larger than the average gator.
Although gators are plentiful in the state, the sheer size of this one makes the video capture that much more impressive.
The video went viral on social media and was shared, liked, and retweeted by thousands.
Stolting did not call wildlife officials or local law enforcement and instead let the gator continue about his day and let him slide into the nearby waters.
The video was captured on a golf cart, and Stolting did nothing to bother the gargantuan creature. Smart call!
According to FWC data, alligator attacks are quite uncommon, and fatalities are rare.
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Mike has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. He once owned his own agency and has worked with some of the largest brands in the world.
