When you think of the animals that most embody the American experience, there are a few that come to mind almost automatically. The Bald Eagle appears in the mind’s eye on account of its designation as the national bird. Second, the American Bison, perhaps. After that, we have deer, raccoons, and possums to call our own.
But there is another uniquely American beast that tends to be forgotten by the northern and western citizens of this nation: The American Alligator.
These modern-day dinosaurs can live up to 60 years, and can reach a length of nearly 16 feet. At that size, these monsters can weigh half a ton, making them nigh unstoppable eaters in the wild.
In South Carolina this week, one gator hunter asked his processor to take a look at his trophy’s stomach contents, and the results might shock you.
The owner of a butcher and taxidermy shop in Ravenel, South Carolina, said his team recently discovered five dog tags and several other items inside the belly of a 12-foot alligator.
“The gator, which weighed in at 445 pounds, was killed by Ned McNeely, who owns the Adams Run property where he found it,” WCSC reported Friday.
He transported the creature to Cordray’s to have it processed where the team later found the items, the outlet said.
The state reportedly bases the number of tags hunters get based on their acreage and the alligator population.
“McNeely said he has twin 7-year-old girls, three labs and a variety of duck impoundments at his property as well as a lot of swampland near the Edisto River,” the WCSC report stated.
He asked the shop’s Kenneth Cordray about looking inside the alligator’s stomach and Cordray said that is not something the team normally does but decided to grant his request.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the business shared photos of the animal and detailed the other items the employee’s found.
“5 dog tags, 1 bullet jacket, 1 spark plug, loads of turtle shells, and several bobcat claws were inside. Two of the tags were legible and one phone number still worked. The owner said he had that lease 24 years ago and those were from his deer dogs. Pretty interesting,” the post read […]
The photos were nearly unbelievable.
Ned McNeely brought in this 12’ long 445 lb. private land gator this morning! We don’t usually open up the stomach but…
Posted by Cordray’s on Thursday, April 8, 2021
When McNeely called one of the phone numbers on the dog tags, he was informed that the animal whose tag was recovered had gone missing 24 year ago, meaning that this specimen was already sizable back in the 90’s.
