A massive alligator was spotted lumbering its way across a Florida golf course which has sent social media into a frenzy.
The fearsome critter was caught on video by golfer Jeff Jones at Valencia Golf and Country Club, in Naples, as Hurrican Eta swept through the area on Wednesday.
The alligator, which spectators have argued would look more at home in Jurassic Park than on a golf course, is seen sashaying across the fairway before immersing itself in a nearby lake.
‘Holy …,’ one golfer could be heard commenting in the video. ‘This guy out for a stroll – oh, my God!’
The sunshine state’s gators are renown for growing up to enormous eye-watering proportions, with the largest ever captured in Florida sizing up to a staggering 17.4 feet long and this beast didn’t seem to be far off that record measurement.
Meanwhile, online, social media users had joined in a collective voice of hysteria, with many comparing the alligator to a famous reptilian monster.
‘That is Godzilla that is not a gator,’ wrote a stunned Alex Hoffman.
Josh Helmuth also insisted ‘That’s no gator,’ instead concluding the beast depicted was a ‘walking, living dinosaur.’
Another user wrote: ‘That thing didn’t just survive the meteorite 65 million years ago, it rose up and headed it top corner’.
One user, who identified herself as a lifelong Floridian, said: ‘Holy s**t … I’ve seen a few gators in my time, but never one that big. His tail alone most weigh 100 pounds.’
What seemed to be most concerning to the spectators was the size of the alligator’s legs, with Liz Dueweke asking, ‘Can someone from Florida explain to me why its legs are so long? I thought gators had itty bitty legs.’
Alligators tend to use a high walk, also known as a slow trot when moving long distances.
Generally, they’re seen in a crawling stance, which they use to travel short distances, which several users pointed out, but the facts offered little in the way of comfort, with Bill Wong nervously asking: ‘How fast can an alligator run? Asking for a friend.’
‘The real question is,’ one user responded, ’Who is faster, you or your “friend”.’
Others quipped that the most alarming thing about the beast was its flagrant disregard for coronavirus pandemic protocol.
‘This is terrifying,’ wrote Judd Zulgad. ‘That gator isn’t wearing a mask.’
‘Where is he going,’ jested another user. ‘Mar-A-Lago is the other way.’
This gator looks extremely scary, but I bet not as scary as some of the politicians they have there in the US. However, this is an extremely menacing creature and a magnificent beast.
This is their natural habitat, but it seems humans want everything for themselves, but beaches and shorelines were meant for sea animals to come out of the water to rest and lay their eggs.
Although we could do with a few of those so that they could be let loose in UK parliament, but that might be cruel to the alligators.
