Big “lizards” are common in the Sunshine State, but this one is something special.
Giant 1,000-Pound Class Florida Gator
Robert Gatling is a Jacksonville dentist with a passion for Florida alligator hunting. He's been after them over the last seven years, and annually takes some heavyweights, including many over 10 feet long weighing hundreds of pounds. But the brute he and three buddies located Sept. 20 in the St. Johns River about 30 miles south of Jacksonville near the town of Palatka was not your average lake-living "lizard." Gatling and area friends Andy Burns, Larry Geiger and Keith Price launched their 17-foot Stumpknocker skiff in Palatka at sunset. Then they headed south toward sprawling Lake George looking for gators.