He really tipped the scales.
A massive alligator hauled from a South Carolina lake after a four-year pursuit has made history, measuring 14 feet and weighing an astonishing 844 pounds.
The giant reptile, nicknamed “Snaggletooth,” is now confirmed as the second-largest alligator ever caught in the state. Hunters captured him Monday at Lake Moultrie, according to The Post and Courier.
Cole Poplin and William Ard of Renegade Bowfishing harpooned the alligator at about 11 p.m. while guiding clients Chris and Craig Webb, the newspaper reported.
For Poplin, the encounter marked the end of a pursuit that began in 2022.
“I spotted this gator four years ago, roughly,” Poplin told the paper. “I’ve hunted this gator a lot over the last three or four years. Four years later, we have a magical night, and he just happened to slip up and make a mistake, and we made it count.”
The hunters said bringing the enormous animal under control—and then lifting it onto their boat—proved difficult.
“On the last bit of ground to cover Cole and I put eyes on a monster and all hell broke loose,” Webb wrote in a Facebook post. “We scrambled to get him harpooned. One was good, one bounced off. We ended up with 3 stuck in him and a treble by his front leg.”
Webb said the alligator measured “14 feet on the nose” before tipping the scales at 844 pounds, making it South Carolina’s second-largest catch on record, according to The Post and Courier.
“STATE RECORD BABY!” Webb wrote in celebration.
South Carolina’s record remains a 1,025-pound alligator measuring 13 feet. Maryellen Mara-Christian caught that animal at Lake Moultrie in 2010.
