He said the soreness began as a "small little cut," but it quickly worsened owing to his diabetes. With a belly girth of 65", the Tom Grant's alligator was one of the largest American alligators to have ever been caught in the Mississippi delta area. Every week on "Swamp People," Thursdays at 9 p.m. The number of gators a hunter may harvest is equal to the number of CITIES tags they possess. The Stokes Alligator was so massive that it broke the winch often used by the locals to weigh their alligators. "Gator Done." In 2015, Rivers told KSLA News 12 that he helped catch an alligator in Toledo Bend Reservoir on Sept. 5 of that year that measured 14 feet, 1 inch. And the Brandon we know from Swamp People is 46 years old (born November 2, 1976). While it might seem strange (again, depending on where you grew up) to eat gator meat, if cooked properly, it's actually pretty delicious and compliments Cajun style recipes perfectly. Brandon is 43 years old now. In our Season 2 story on alligator prices, we reported some rough market prices. The crocodile has a long V-shaped head, while alligators have a U-shaped head with a round snout. "You know, a big alligator is like a big buck. Willie Edwards is an alligator hunter and a reality television star who has appeared in the show ' Swamp People ' alongside his father, Junior Edwards. It's the tag business that makes alligator hunting such a touch and go operation: no matter what, if you catch a gator, then you need to use one of your precious tags on it, unless you own your own hunting grounds. His name is Muja, and he is an American alligator currently residing at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia. How much a hunter makes can vary greatly. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. He goes by his nickname King of Swamp, Nunky in the show. After that, Saurage said, a higher fence was built around some parts of the 21-acre park. A ten-foot gator costing $13 per foot would be sold for $130. R.J. and Jay Paul Molinere are two of the stars of "Swamp People, a television show on the History Channel which features life in the Atchafalaya River Basin in southern Louisiana, the largest swamp in the United States. Offers may be subject to change without notice. TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser. Fearless and daring Troy Landrys professional life as a gator hunter is there to see in the History channel reality show, Swamp People. He pursues and hunts gators in the swamp area of Louisiana which is one of many endeavors he is into. Although not weighed, estimates put it at around 2,000 pounds. They really dont spread far, especially bigger ones.". Salaries vary greatly across the range of cast members. The short answer to this question is hunters kill the alligators. 3838 Camino Del Rio N #102 San Diego, CA 92108. Since hunting alligators isnt as profitable as one might think, how do these hunters supplement their income? It is important to note that the capture of this alligator was documented on the TV show Swamp People and it was determined that for the good of the entire colony that he needed to be isolated. While shotguns are prohibited when hunting, other registered firearms may be used. In addition, this special eye structure causes their eyes glow in the dark. The alligator hunting season begins the first Wednesday of September in the west zone of Louisiana. See more impressive gator takedowns every week on "Swamp People," Thursdays at 9 p.m. So that means that monster 12-foot gator Troy Landry pulled from a swamp would fetch him around $180 if the hide was completely intact. MISSING: Alligator. Most wild alligators do not grow beyond 13ft or weigh more than 600lbs. It was 15 feet 9 inches long and weighed 1,011.5 pounds. It was caught by Lee Lightsey after the remains of many missing cattle were found in the water. It's been almost 200 years since the first sighting, and yet the mystery has never been solved. "The largest published size record for the American alligator is a 14-foot, 9.25-inch individual that was killed in Alabama in 2014," says wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist David A. Steen. He now resides in his own private pool, where he is safe and well-cared for. Joe Goff, a 6'5" tall game warden, shown below, walks past the 28-foot, 1-inch long alligator that he helped shoot and kill in the Rogers' back yard. Are there crocodiles in Alabama? ET on History. William Armstrong is a senior editor with H-O-M-E.org, where he writes on a wide variety of topics. Though it was never caught, the largest alligator ever to have been found and recorded was in 1890 in Marsh Island, Louisiana. It's surmised that a lot of these battles with wildlife are pre-filmed, staged and then stitched together. The mounted 15-foot, 9-inch alligator weighing 1,011 pounds was unveiled on Friday morning at the Montgomery Zoo. ET on History. Prospective hunters must apply for CITIES tags, the tagging system used for alligators before the season begins. She has been seen helping "King of the Swamp" Troy out on his boat, during the 30-day alligator hunting season in Louisiana. "Swamp People" is a History Channel reality show following alligator hunters and their endeavors in various swampland. The first reptiles appeared 300 million years ago and ancestors of the American alligator appeared 160 million years ago. Despite the whopping size, this giant is not actually an official record as the claim has not been able to be verified. No, a crocodile and an alligator cannot mate. This material may not be reproduced without permission. They typically range in size from 10 to 15 feet in length, so a 13-ft. gator would certainly be a large specimen, but not an extraordinarily-sized one. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. We start in late November, after Thanksgiving, we start trying to catch farm-raised around the Lafayette area, and then in February and early March, well also go in the Atchafalaya Basin in the swamp and catch wild crawfish.. The biggest alligator ever caught on Swamp People was a monstrous 13ft 5in, 900 pound behemoth that was captured in 2013 in Louisiana's Monster Marsh. Swamp People have the tags necessary to allow them to make hunting gators their job, which takes up 30 days of the year. The massive male was killed on Marsh Island in January 1890 by Edward "Ned" McIlhenny. The alligator capital of the world is also home to Big Tex, who holds the United States' national record for being the world's largest alligator at almost 14 feet long and weighing in at 1000 pounds. So that means that monster 12-foot gator Troy Landry pulled from a swamp would fetch him around $180 if the hide was completely intact. It's a big house . It measured 19.2 ft. (5.85 m) in length, and weighed somewhere around 2000 lbs - allegedly. That depends on market prices for gator meat and hides. The alligator is in the foreground of the picture, with its head turned towards the camera, while a game warden strolls in the background, making the reptile (particularly its head) seem much proportionally larger than it really is. He consistently outsmarts huge gators year after year. Copyright 2023 Distractify. Lot of South Texas Nuc Plant folk live in this area. They tend to be more aggressive than their cousins, while crocodiles tend to be more opportunistic when it comes to feeding. However, his son, Jacob Landry makes on $40 per episode of "Swamp People.". The alligator is one of about 40 unaccounted for at Gator Country in Beaumont, Texas, after Tropical Storm Imelda inundated parts of Southeast Texas with more than 40 inches of rainfall last week more than some areas got during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. California States Strict Ban on Primate Pets, Nurse Sharks A Deceptive Name or An Apt Moniker, Pandas Unveiling the Truth Behind the Cute and Cuddly Bears, Big Sis Magne: A Brutal Criminal With a Magnetic Quirk, Caterpillar D11: The Worlds Biggest Dozer. If hunting in a public place, the fishing method is used to capture alligators. Born and raised in Louisiana Brandon started his schooling in his hometown. What is an appropriate gift for a confirmation? Their neighbors had been telling them that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house, but they dismissed the stories as exaggerations. If he ends up pulling out a small gator, he might not even be able to recoup the costs of his tag and all the supplies he used in hunting the swamp creature down. It is thought that fewer people are out . Well, there's two main things Swamp People try to sell from the gators they shoot: their meat and their hides. He is American and belongs to the Caucasian ethnicity. The water was higher (in Imelda) than it was the last time. The Facts. What is the biggest alligator caught in Alabama? Can you shoot pythons in the Everglades? After suffering a heart attack while loading supplies onto a boat, local authorities declared he had died of natural causes. Rivers, who was born and raised on the man-made lake, said he has pulled 12- and 13-foot alligators out of the waters shared by Louisiana and Texas. During her time on Swamp People, Wheat has been a major player, even having a record year hunting with Troy. Brandon joined the cast of the History Channel show Swamp People in 2012. Louisiana Alligator. How would you like to meet this fella in the dark? The record holder for heaviest alligator was a 13-foot (4 meters) 10 -inch (26.7 centimeters) gator caught in Orange Lake. Well, wonder no more! Growing up Liz had a seven-foot-long, alligator pet named Charlie Pie. It all happens in one month, as cast members try to preserve their way of life in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana. His massive gator did not make the record books for length, but the weight of the beast is worth noting. However, in 2017 and 2018 there was increased competition coming from overseas and this caused gator sales to drop to an all-time low. However, when it comes to his personal life, Troy likes to keep it low-key. He belongs to the white ethnicity and has a tall height that suits his personality very well. Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens had to shoot the beast. Troy was cast to appear in the reality TV series "Swamp People", which premiered on 22 August 2010 on History Channel. 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