Massive 680-Pound Alligator Finally Caught After 20 Years

Have you ever heard the phrase “it’s worth waiting for?” Perhaps this is talking about a relationship, a career leap, or waiting to buy that new car so you can save up. Regardless, once the waiting period is over, there are few things more enjoyable than finally getting what you’ve been waiting for. Well, we see this happening in this incredible story below. 

Alligator Sighting in Texas

A family had been trying for 20 years to able to capture this massive alligator during Texas’ alligator hunting season between September 10th and September 30th. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife, lawful hunting hours are “One-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Between sunset and one-half hour before sunrise, no person shall set any baited line capable of taking an alligator, or remove an alligator from a line set.” 

Robert Hennis, his son Joel, Rev. John Benandini Jr., and Tommy Strawn finally captured this gigantic 13-foot alligator late last month after 20 long years. They were able to fish it out of the Turtle Bayou in Texas. 

“We have been trying to get this gator for 20 years,” Joel told Bluebonnet News. “Every year, a week before the season, we will see him, and then we won’t see him again until after the season is over. This time he bit the wrong hook.” 

This gigantic catch won’t go to waste. The family who captured this gator plans to donate most of the meat from this beast to the Bernandini’s church. And they will use the rest of the body for a full-body mount up on their family wall for Joel and his dad. Imagine just how big that wall has to be!

LMTonline News reported that “The harvesting was legal, with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issuing the group two alligator-harvesting tags for the open season.”

How Many Alligators Live in Texas?

Oh, Texas! They are home to 142 different species of mammals, and they also include some very rare species that are only found in Texas, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife. And while alligators are not mammals, they are reptiles. They can be found in abundance in the great state of Texas.

It might shock you to know that Texas, however, does not take the lead with the most alligators. Louisiana takes that award home! Of the four million alligators there are in the world, Texas houses about 500,000 alligators.