14-foot-plus alligator breaks Florida state record

A male alligator measuring more than 14 feet has broken the Florida state record for length.

Orlando resident Tres Ammerman, who traps alligators as a hobby, pulled the 14-foot, 3 1/2-inch behemoth out of Brevard County's Lake Washington on Sunday while out with his nephew and another hunter.

"I knew he was a giant gator when we saw his head," Ammerman told the Orlando Sentinel.

It took more than two hours to catch the alligator and bring it to the boat dock -- the animal was too big to go in the boat, so the men essentially had to tow the reptile in.

Ammerman's wife, Janette, seems used to this sort of thing.

"It's my husband's passion. Every alligator hunting season, it's all go for him."

Still, she recognizes the significance of his catch. "We've got three over-13-foot mounts in the house, but I think this is a once in a lifetime thing -- it's very unlikely to see something this big again."

Arnold Brunell, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission wildlife biologist who inspected the gator trapped by Ammerman, confirmed Monday that the animal broke the state record for length, set in 1997 by a 14-foot, 5/8-inch male alligator caught in Lake Monroe in Seminole County.

However, at 654 pounds, Ammerman's gator isn't the heaviest male ever caught. That distinction still belongs to a 1,043-pounder caught in 1989.

Asked what the plan was for the huge alligator, Janette Ammerman said that "we haven't decided what we're going to do with him yet. We'll probably sell him, but my husband is going to keep his options open."

-- Kelly Burgess
twitter.com/latimesoutposts

Photo: Tres Ammerman and the 14-foot 3 1/2-inch alligator he caught Sunday. Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Comments

[Shawna Metzger]

Hi my name is shawna metzger im 13 years old and i just want to if you were scared??

[Guppy]

Great catch. I agree, humans before snakes, sharks, lions, crocs., and alligators.
The fact is each of these animals have killed and eaten humans.
I would love to read the posted comments each of these animals would of made after eating or killing a human.

I think the post would go something like this..... Yum Yum!

[Jeff]

For those of you that said you wished the gator had killed the hunter, that is pretty sad. Gators do kill humans, usually small children. Thay also kill people's pets and are a very real threat. Do you feel happy when you read about a gator really killing a person? Messed up, man, messed up!

[Janette Ammerman]

To TOPOFFFOODCHAIN: Good call my friend.Sincerely "wife of Record Gator HARVESTER"

[Janette Ammerman]

Thanks Lukey Uncle Tres is very proud but not for the reasons that most people are thinking , when you go out 'gator hunting you do not really know what you are going to get, you might have a rough idea but thats about it. Uncle Tres is patient and cautious, a very skilled hunter, he bides his time, and waits.... I hope you will go to my face-book page and read about the Florida Alligator Management program. For all the other people reading this,It is a licenced hunt which people pay a lot of monry for. the press have exagerated this out of context so please stop the personel attacks. Fine ,you dont agree with hunting, you are entitled to your opinion, and I respect that. So Please Respect Ours...

[topoffoodchain]

good kill my dude looks like the one that caught and killed the little boy in leesburg size wise. humans before creatures.lets not forget about that people. we are to be on earth also. and god gave us the tools for survival. so dont hate ethical takeing of wildlife. we pay alot to the state of florida for license, to take such creatures, and it imployees thousands that will be unemployed if some of u get your way. and so dont hugg the trees to hard i mite be in one in my climber trying to kill a deer or hog. so kill on people. before they kill u. feed your family good meat with no steroids or preservatives. i have a dream that one day people will keep the negativity down to a minimum. and respect hunters they are armed you no.freedom is great and won with blood sweat tears and human life.i love my rights and thank the vets that make it possible

[Toni Prince]

What an awesome catch! I once lived in Orlando, Florida, managing a 208 unit apt. comlex and alligators were too prevalent in golf ponds, etc. as well as attacks by them on animal planet too. I fear them and know that I feel safer in the mountains with black bears!

[Luke]

Well done Uncle Tres, that aligator you caught is HUGE! I measured it with a tape measure and its almost the same size of out kitchen! good catch :)

[Luke]

Well done Uncle Tres :D so proud of you :)

[okay]

Oh the irony, we invade THEIR space so now we need to 'cull' them. And then photograph them while dead in some fat balding moron's driveway. Ever wonder why they call us Floridiots?

[MotherNatureCalls]

A better story would be if that gator had a driveway to call his own and that fat balding excuse for a man was lying on it....then we'd know it was actually a fair fight. sorry, just an educated opinion in case that's welcomed here..

[SouthparkinLA]

What a redneck! I hope the gators win in the end.

[fred]

gators have to be taken..... simple population control

[NDAlum]

Pathetic to kill just for sport. I do believe animals need to be culled if their numbers are too great, and this might be the case, but it always sickens me when these people boast of killing an animal for recognition.

[Jess]

"That there's a gator, 14 footer. Come here sis, gimmee a kiss."

[LizinSarasota]

Don't you sort of wish it'd been the other way around?

[AHF]

Wouldn't it be really cool if the alligator took this guy out. I am so impressed. This guy is such a hero...yeah right!

AHF

[Dennis Conway]

I don't get it. Why kill the animal? Now if that guy caught it and wrestled it, that'd be impressive.

[JC]

How wonderful that this magnificent gator lived just long enough to decorate this courageous man's driveway.