Massive Alligator Takes Leisurely Stroll Through Golf Course

Published May 31, 2016
Updated January 19, 2017

A giant alligator recently dropped by a Palmetto, Florida golf course, stunning onlookers as he strolled through the grounds.

“Have you ever seen anything that big,” asks Charles Helms, as he records the dinosaur-like creature roaming around the course. “I think that’s two guys in an alligator suit.”

The alligator, which Helms speculates is around 15 feet long and which Snopes says is the real deal, seemed to pay no attention to the onlookers.

In fact, it’s a regular at the Buffalo Creek Golf Club. “People have heard that he is out here and that is all they want to see,” Wendy Schofield, a clerk at one of the golf course’s shops told NBC News 3. “He doesn’t bother anybody and they don’t bother him.”

Empirical evidence would tend to back up Schofield’s claim: In 2015, alligators were responsible for only three deaths nationwide.

Alligators like the one in the video uploaded Monday are a fairly common occurrence at Florida golf courses. Last year, an alligator nicknamed Goliath was spotted eating a turtle whole on the Myakka Pines Golf Course in Englewood, Florida.

Why do these gators gravitate towards golf courses?

“It’s just open swamp land,” Mickie Zada, manager of Myakka Pines told ABC news at the time. “There are no houses for miles.”


Next, read about the Nile crocodiles invading Florida’s swamps. Then, check out Florida’s stunning coral castle.

author
Elisabeth Sherman
author
Elisabeth Sherman is a writer living in Jersey City, New Jersey. She holds a Master's in writing from Columbia University, and her work has appeared in Food & Wine, The Guardian, Yahoo, BBC, HuffPost, VICE, MSN, and Vulture.
editor
Savannah Cox
editor
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.