That would be the 12 foot alligator that was caught on the beach by St Stanislaus yesterday. It must have been coming to the marsh for the winter and made a wrong turn at the new Bay bridge. It’s tail just may end up at a food booth at the NOLA Jazz Fest next April. Now if we could only figure out how to get people to eat Nutria….
Authorities speculated the alligator may have left Cat Island or another barrier island, and come ashore across the Bay of St. Louis and the Mississippi Sound.
“The consensus is that they are leaving their homes on the islands and swimming in,” Necaise said. “Poor old boy, when they get this big, they can become a threat.”
The American alligator, whose scientific name is “Alligator Mississippiensis,” is flourishing again after nearly becoming extinct at one time. Males of the species, like the one killed Thursday, can become enormous.
Mature males average from 13 to nearly 15 feet in length and can grow to weigh 1,000 pounds. Their lifespan in the wild runs from 35 to 50 years.
Given his size, the one killed on the beach had been around a long time. After his demise, he was being taken to a processing plant, Necaise said.