Boy, 10, drags nearly 6 foot alligator home from canal

[RamboLiberal]

Florida wildlife officials say a 10-year-old boy dragged a nearly 6-foot alligator home from a nearby canal.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were called to the Rockledge home of Michael Dasher on Wednesday after the boy's grandfather saw the alligator in the front yard.

Michael told the officers he had been fishing with friends when something big caught the hook and snapped the line. The boy said the alligator ran at him, so he started hitting it with sticks and jumped on its back.

Michael dragged the alligator home and suffered only minor scratches on his hands and arms. Wildlife officers measured the alligator at 5 feet 9 inches long.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/boy-10-drags-alligator-home-from-canal-1499780.html

As Steve Irwin would say - Crikey!

[CatWoman]

1. that's one tough kid!!

:)

[petronius]

2. That kid is gonna be trouble!

But also probably pretty fun to have around... :)

[bbinacan]

3. I love it. n/t

[abelenkpe]

4. Wow!

What a kid. Better not let my son see this tho. ;)

[liberal N proud]

5. Don't mess with Michael

I bet when he goes to school, people just back off.

[ClarkUSA]

6. "The officers let Michael off with a stern talk but no charges."

That must've been cute.

The gator was released back to its river home.

All's well that ends well. :)

[1monster]

19. Shucks, I was hoping that there were a pair of really nice shoes, a belt, and a

shoulder bag somewhere in this story. :(

My son just chastized me for saying that. "Don't you know that alligators are almost extinct!" he huffed.

I don't know what time period he's living in, but alligators are no where near extinct in Florida these days. They made an incredible recovery from their dwindling numbers of the 1960s.

I always thought that Jacques Lemoyne (the artist who did woodcuts of the Timucuan Indians in Florida at the time of Jean Ribault and Pedro Menendez) greatly exaggerated the size of the alligators of the time:



I changed my mind when I started seeing recent photos like this (the Florida wildlife officer walking by is 6'2"):


and this (that's a full grown deer that gator is hauling BTW):



on edit: I was just joking... but for those who are arguing that the kid didn't do anything that tough, I'm thinking you don't know much about alligators. One person I've met who works with alligators nearly lost a finger when a baby (about a year old) gator caught the handler's inatentive and unwary finger in its mouth. Gator's jaw muscles are very weak on opening, but very strong on closing and keeping closed.

[ClarkUSA]

29. Your son must be thinking of crocodiles, which are an endangered species.

I commend his conservationist sensibilities, however. You did a good job somewhere along the way.

I do feel sorry for those big Old Ones who get taken. Thanks for the photos and commentary, however.

[Dreamer Tatum]

49. +1 and anyone who whines about this has never read Huck Finn.

This is the kind of thing that kids do.

[MissMarple]

7. Honestly! Kids today. Doesn't he know he could put an eye out doing that?

Bless his heart. ;)

[Obamanaut]

8. Hope he was wearing his helmet. Riding alligators can be dangerous. nt

[mysuzuki2]

9. Hey mom, it followed me home

can I keep it?

[Art_from_Ark]

37. I think there was something like that in a Dr. Seuss book I read once

Maybe it was "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"

[AtomicKitten]

53. LOL.

Beat me to it!

[themadstork]

10. beating up on a gator that small is not impressive

just lame.

[RebelOne]

15. I would not want to tangle with a 6-foot gator.

So it is pretty impressive.

[themadstork]

23. A <6' gator does not want to tangle with you.

Unless you're secretly a large fish.

[obxhead]

17. When we see video of you fighting off a gator that size

we'll believe you.

[themadstork]

20. The kid probably outweighed the gator by a good deal.

And was on land, no less.

If you're impressed by that I expect you to be impressed if I ever beat up my neighbor's black lab.

[bluestate10]

24. A gator that size can produce enough pressure with it's jaws to crush

the fingers of a full grown man. The boy toyed with serious injury. Looks like he was fortunate enough to make the right moves with the gator.

[themadstork]

25. And a snapping turtle can bite my finger clean off

Should I be praised for beating one up?

edit - said turtle also probably weighing more than this gator.

[backscatter712]

31. Yeah. Looks like the gator wasn't quite big enough to make an hors d'oeuvre out of the kid...

But the kid's lucky the gator wasn't able to get its jaws on him - I imagine even when small, a gator can deliver a truly nasty bite.

[tblue37]

32. A gator that size can clamp down on your arm or leg and go into

a death roll, ripping it out of the socket so you die of shock or bleed to death.

[Gemini Cat]

34. Considering the kid is 10 and the alligator ran at him...

yeah, I think it's pretty impressive.

[revolution breeze]

40. A six foot alligator ripped off a boy's arm here

Wildlife and sheriff officers were able to retrieve the arm but it was too late to attempt to reattach. The boy is doing well two years later.

[Javaman]

45. I'm sure you wrestle them all the time.

:eyes:

[themadstork]

52. I don't wrestle with hawks.

Still think beating one up would be lame.

The support for animal abuse here is truly bewildering. Need I repeat that this gator very likely was outweighed by the kid? Sure, the gator could bite him, but so could a turtle, a dog, a cat, a spider, etc., etc.. . . and people have been killed by dogs, yet I don't think you'd approve of beating one senseless and dragging it down the road by its tail.

This gator was a JUVENILE, and in NO WAY is interested in biting/eating this kid except out of defense. It's at least six years away from being big enough to not be utterly intimidated by a human. If the kid just runs away a bit there's no way it keeps up with him on land. It'll just bug off and everyone's good. But NO, he's a tough HE-MAN, he must show the gator WHO'S BOSS. Give me a fucking break. Animal abuse in any other case is seen as a warning sign for sociopathy.

[Capitalocracy]

11. Yet another story which sounds more impressive than it actually is.

Photo of the kid:

[rrneck]

12. If I ever

decide I need to start some shit with anybody it won't be that kid.

[ET Awful]

13. Why did I just conjur up a mental image of the "I like turtles" kid?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y

[provis99]

14. kid, you win "Macho Man" of the Year Award!

[B Calm]

16. I bet the kid watches Swamp People on the History channel. . .

[Xithras]

18. Why wasn't he at least ticketed?

Let me get this straight. Boy finds wild animal. Boy beats wild animal with sticks. Boy jumps on wild animals back. Boy drags (presumably) kicking and fighting animal out of its habitat and took it to his home against his will.

Would people be cheering this animal abuser if it had been a dog? Or a deer? Or even a squirrel? Why is it OK just because it's an alligator?

[themadstork]

22. Because gators are exotic. or something.

This gator was basically a pup. I bet he felt like a real tough kid dragging it home.

[bluestate10]

26. Alligators are numerous in Florida. As housing developments have

encroached on their habitat, gators are becoming threats to the safety of homeowners. You need to take circumstances into account, gators are not popular species in southern states due to their abundance and danger to residents.

[Xithras]

47. So it's ok to abuse unpopular animals?

I get that people don't like them, and I have no problem with people relocating them, or even euthanizing them when needed. But this kid beat the thing with a stick and dragged it up the road...that's what I have a problem with. That's NOT a normal, or acceptable, way to treat ANY animal.

[Drahthaardogs]

27. Animal Abuser????

He did not stick M-80 firecrackers up its ass and blow them up like a sick little fuck. The gator had a go at him and he wrestled it and brought it home. Get a grip, it's a little boy and a cute story. Country kids are a little different than their city counterparts.

[Xithras]

46. Don't give me that.

I live in the country. I'd kick my kids ass if they beat a wild animal into submission and dragged it home. Even my "country" kids are respectful enough to know that you don't abuse wild animals for the fun of it. When I take my kids hunting, they know that rule #1 is that you don't take a shot unless you know that you can get a clean kill.

It's evil to cause pain to animals simply for the sake of causing pain.

[themadstork]

54. Have always lived in the country as well (except for college)

and I can't think of a single case where someone would applaud this. What if someone pounded a bear cub into a pulp and dragged it home? It'd be pretty fucking weird, not heroic.

[backscatter712]

30. Because he's ten. n/t

[chrisa]

39. First of all, he's ten.

And the gator tried to attack him.

[Dreamer Tatum]

48. So he should give money to the government?

Why? He's frickin' TEN.

[surrealAmerican]

21. Strong kid, but ...

no, you can't keep it.

[Autumn Colors]

28. Maybe he's the next Steve Irwin? (nt)

[Angry Dragon]

33. At one time I lived with a guy that had a gator in his basement

raised it from about a foot long. He/she was about 8 feet and I always knew where it was when I went down stairs.

[themadstork]

41. Whoah.

Now that's wild. Was it fully grown at 8, or still getting bigger? What did he feed it?

I love gators; they're so weirdly majestic. When they get like half-ton big, they look like something from another age, a different existence. Plus their stubby legs are so freaking cute.

It's a shame that some of the most fascinating animals are too dangerous to really interact with. I know someone who encountered a brazilian banana spider (p. nigriventer) at a grocery store once, which would have freaked the hell out of me.

[Angry Dragon]

42. It was still growing .......... fed it chicken parts

[flvegan]

35. Glad the gator was to be released back into the wild.

Seems the norm that they just kill them around here.

[Canuckistanian]

36. "Honest, Mom, he followed me home!"

"Can I keep him?"

[Cass]

38. Wow, he's lucky he wasn't seriously hurt or worse. A 6 foot gator is nothing to mess with.

I bet his mother nearly fainted when she realized what her son had done and how close he was to being gator chow.

[Blue_Tires]

43. Amos Moses?

[guitar man]

51. Exactly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GyLr7Cz2g

:hi:

[WilliamPitt]

44. Can we keep 'im??

Pleeeeeeze??

NO.

[KansDem]

50. "Wildlife officers measured the alligator at 5 feet 9 inches long. "

Too short. Gotta throw him back!