Huntsville man says alligator ate his dog. I eased up on at least a 10/12' last year. I kayak regularly on the opposite side of the Tennessee River and have seen one the last four times. Nice brown water keeps them hidden.

Fifteen feet?

Hate to hear about the dog. Keep your eyes open in that kayak.

Feel sorry for anybody that looses their Dog. If he had to watch, that's worse.

I see at least one almost every time I go out. By just slow paddling and easing quietly around they don't hear you. They make a big splash when they hit the water. Only once was I concerned and it was that big one I came up on in a narrow side creek channel. Went around a sharp bend and he was right in front of me on a log. He dove toward me, went under the kayak and broke water on the other side. I kept going the other way but had to come back through later. I made a lot of noise and fired my pistol in the water a few times.

I question 15 feet. That's more than the state record and that's a huge f'king gator. The old gal in the Witch's Ditch at Eufaula seemed to grow a foot every year, but she was a sho'nuff 13- to 14-footer.

But considering that area in Huntsville is just now being built up, and has been swampy and non-pressured pretty much forever, a 15 might not be impossible. I highly doubt it but it'll take another dog or kid or old person being killed to get anyone into it.

First one I saw was in 1983 in Garth Slough while fishing with a buddy. Threw a bait at a log and the log swam away. That was only about 10 years after they'd been reinroduced to the refuge by Tom Atkeson. I've always wondered how more aren't seen in Flint and Cotaco creeks, and elsewhere. I always was on the lookout when we hunted coons and squirrels along the Flint.

yep our woke wildlife officials were more concerned about if he harmed the gator, if you read the 48waff article. seems our officials are wanting bears, lions and alligators in the outdoors to keep hunters and kids from the enjoying the outdoors. if you see some of these then kill em. DCNR is just following the PETA guidbook.

I was paddling up Cotaco creek and saw a large one on a log ahead. I eased over to the bank so I wouldn't be silhouetted, kept quiet, and eased on up. At about 20 yds he slid off the log and started swimming up the creek, same direction I was going. He went right down the middle. I followed him a couple of hundred yards. They have a slow easy pace and long tail sweeps. I couldn't see the boat ramp yet but someone started a boat motor in the water. Had to have been several hundred yards or more away. As soon as the vibration from the motor in the water reached him he immediately dived and didn't come back up.

kill it, there ain't no shortage of gators.

Few years ago, a local woman down here was walking her dog at one of the local boat ramps. She let the dog off the leash to play in the water at the ramp between boats launching and loading up. Alligator came out from under the boardwalk and got the dog. Could have been a lot worse...a few minutes before the woman's dog got eaten, there was a bunch of kids riding their bikes down the ramp to see who could get the farthest down the ramp before falling off their bike. Kids were lucky the alligator didn't get a hold to one of them

Yep!

I was hoping it had been a Chihuahua.

15 footer is hard to believe, but I wouldn't say its out of the question. Probably 12-13 though which is still one big freaking gator. Ran into a pile of them mating on Eufaula while kayaking one time. There were 15 gators on this bank with 3' over 12 and one that had to be 14'. It was wayyy wider than my buddies Hobie PA. Never seen one that big before or since. Freaking dinosaur

If he was able to measure him he should have saved his dog.

They never should have reintroduced those things. They grow big and can eat a person little or big, if they want too. WTH were these idiots thinking? If I had one that stayed around my place, he would disappear one day. I do not want anything like that living here. Why not some T-REX or such. Idiots!

Who reintroduced them? They've always been here. They were, and still are, protected to a degree, but they never disappeared.

Grew up in Charleston, SC across the street from a brackish lake that fed into the marsh/Atlantic eventually…had many encounters with gators, but one of them was huge …I was probably 12-13 at the time so it looked like it was 30-40’ long. Ended up eating the mascot for the Citadel, which lived a few houses down but on the lake. Wasn’t long after that, fish and wildlife was brought in to catch it. Ended up being slightly over 18’ long. I have an absolutely crazy story about that gator chasing me and my sister on land.

All the issues with that gator ended up being tied to people feeding it. At least that was what I was told.

This is what I was told by a former refuge manager:

Wheeler NWR director Tom Atkeson reintroduced them in the mid-1970s with the help of then Rep. Ronnie Flippo, who had to get some juice squeezed in Congress to get it done. It was touted as a "this is the northern part of their historic range, let's see if they can help with the "beaver problem" we have." They were extirpated, or believed to be, many years earlier in the Tennessee River and its tribs.

There was no beaver problem. It was done to see if they'd survive on the northernmost line of their historic range. Obviously, they have for the last 50 years. They breed and while we don't have as many as in the southern half of the state, they're here to stay. Considering much of the land and swamps-habitat between Decatur and Huntsville is protected by the Refuge or Redstone Arsenal, and also on the south side of the river, it's doubtful they'll ever go away.

I'm surprised no one's been snatched, to be honest. Only a matter of time as development edges more into or close to their habitat.

Same here!! Not many people trapping them anymore because they aren’t worth anything. Lately I’ve seen as many gators dead on the roads as armadillos and possums. We are constantly getting complaints of alligators. I just tell the people to whatever needs to be done and hush up about it.