ICYMI: Behemoth Gator Strolls Across Florida Golf Course

PALMETTO, FL — Alligator sightings on Florida golf courses are pretty much everyday occurrences, but it’s not exactly ordinary for a behemoth worthy of casting in a “Jurassic Park” flick to stroll across the greens.

That, however, is what golfers in Palmetto say they recently had a front-row seat to see. The sight was so awe-inspiring, one golfer pulled out a camera and started recording the creature’s slow trek across the fairway to the lake near Buffalo Creek Golf Club’s third hole.

While no humans were harmed in the filming of the video, it’s clear from the footage they chose wisely to witness the spectacle from afar. Just how big the alligator might measure out remains unclear, but estimates put it at 14 to 15 feet.

Golfer Charles Helms of Sarasota captured the incredible footage, telling ABC news, “I was stunned and silent.”

The Buffalo Creek behemoth isn’t the first monster gator to make a Florida golf course its home. A critter named Goliath created quite a stir last year when golfers at Myakka Pines in Englewood captured shots of him crossing the No. 7 green.

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Warmer weather is the signal for alligators throughout Florida to get up and stretch their legs. This, in turn, tends to produce a fair amount of human-and-gator encounters. Not all of them end with cool video footage and a great tale for golfers to share with their friends, however.

Not too long ago, a Lakeland man lost an armafter diving into a pond to hide from police. A licensed trapper also had his thumbs chomped onby a gator he thought had been incapacitated. Reports of gators strolling up to front doors in suburban neighborhoods are also starting to roll in as the temperatures rise.

“All reptiles are more active in the warmer months,” FWC spokesman Gary Morsesaid in a previous interview. “That’s just the coldblooded creatures’ (way). Their metabolism increases and they do become active.”

That increase in activity can lead to an increase in encounters with humans as gators take advantage of this time of year to stretch their legs and see if the grass is greener on the other side of the pond. Alligator activity tends to rise so much in the warmer months that the state has set up its own hotline to field nuisance alligator calls. That number is 1-866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). In 2013 alone, the state fielded 15,036 nuisance alligator calls, which resulted in the removal of 6,605 creatures.

So, what should folks do if they encounter a gator and how can they avoid running into one in the first place?

“If you see an alligator, appreciate it from a distance,” Morse recommended.

Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission