Gator Unfazed by 2 Rifle Shots to the Head

[Excaliber]

As you might suspect, there's more to this story than meets the eye - and a few red faces in the Independence, MO PD.

Details here.

[Teamless]

[RottenApple]

[A-R]

Rule #4 - Be sure of your target ...

[sugar land dave]

[i8godzilla]

Having grown up in South Florida where I am sure there is a greater population of alligators I cannot help but ROFL.

The top of the head is very hard!

Now that the statue of limitations has passed........................

When I was a teen (~16) we would hunt gators as we knew where we could sell the meat at a great profit. We would buy whole chickens at the grocery store and use them as bait on a good shark hook. Tie off to the back of a truck and wait for the line to go tight. Someone would slowly drive the truck until the gator made the bank and one of us would shot it. One night we shot one with a .357 revolver thew it in the back of the truck, covered it with a canvas tarp, and got the heck out of Dodge. It was about a 10 min drive back to town and we caught the first traffic light red. While sitting at the light, the gator 'rose from the dead'. It started to thrash in the back and the tail was banging pretty hard against the side of the truck's bed. A car pulled up next to us and we did our best to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Picture this: Here are three guy sitting on a bench seat in the truck while it is rocking back and forth making enough noise to be heard in the next county. Made a U-turn back to the woods and tried to figure out how to get it out of the truck so we could shot it again. We ended up dropping the tailgate, drive in reverse and hit the brakes until it slid out. We then shot it again with the remaining shots and prayed it was truly dead. It was not until the next morning did we realize the .357 was loaded with .38s--unsure if it would have made a difference. Not exactly a gold star day of my youth but funny nevertheless.

[The Mad Moderate]

Wow. Fail does not even come close to describing this situation.

[AEA]

The conservation officer that instructed the Police to shoot needs to be retrained in what a real alligator looks like.

[Keith B]

The conservation officer that instructed the Police to shoot needs to be retrained in what a real alligator looks like.

Guys, you need to remember, this is Northern Missouri just outside of Kansas City. They don't usually have alligators in these areas, so they would not be very familiar with what they looked like. However, that doesn't mean they couldn't have one. Up until just a few years ago, you never saw armadillo's or fire ants in Missouri either, but you do now.

[Excaliber]

I figured you folks would have some fun with this one.

[snorri]

I wonder what they would do to this lawn ornament? http://www.designtoscano.com/product/code/DB383020.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jmra]

Fake gator aside, killing a gator is not as easy as one might think. In fact the kill zone for a gator is about the size of a quarter and is located just behind the base of the skull. Most gator hunters use a .22 which provides an instant kill if placed in the small kill zone. Of course most of the time they are aiming at a moving target.

[WildBill]

I figured you folks would have some fun with this one.

I guess I should take the pink flamingos out of my front yard before someone shoots them.

[Excaliber]

I wonder what they would do to this lawn ornament? http://www.designtoscano.com/product/code/DB383020.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Start CPR?!!

[Excaliber]

I figured you folks would have some fun with this one.

I guess I should take the pink flamingos out of my front yard before someone shoots them.

If you see a couple of local squad cars and a game warden truck parked out front, it would probably be a good time for an intervention.