Dog fights off 700lb alligator

[CTReptileRescue]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...og_vs__gator_1

Dog Fights Off 700-Pound Alligator
Fri Jul 15, 5:24 PM ET
PINOPOLIS, S.C. - Dogs don't usually survive alligator attacks — especially when the reptile is three times the canine's size. But Cooper, a 5-year-old golden retriever, is an exception. The spirited dog fought off a 14-foot, 700-pound alligator in a Lake Moultrie canal last month and lived to howl about it.



"I thought he was dead," said 14-year-old Chase Kierspe of the family pet. "The alligator was huge. I didn't think he could fight it. He fights me, but that's all."
Cooper escaped from the backyard for a swim across the canal and apparently attracted the gator. Chase was cutting the grass when he saw the alligator spying his pet. He threw a cup and a lawn chair at the gator, but it didn't budge.
Then Cooper leaped and the gator followed. Chase ran and screamed for help.
After it was all over, Cooper had lost a few teeth and had flesh and muscle torn from a front leg and chunks of skin missing from both haunches. The gator suffered bites to its snout.
"I never heard of a dog getting away from an alligator in the water," said Tom Kierspe, Chase's dad. "You always hear that they grab them, go under and do the 'death roll.' "
The state doesn't keep records of alligator size, but this was "one of the largest if not the largest" the Department of Natural Resources has seen in some time, said Walt Rhodes of the wildlife agency.
The gator's head and hide sit in Kierspe's freezer. He has contacted local museums and parks about getting it mounted and is considering applying to get it certified as a state record.
As for Cooper, Kierspe said, "we changed his name to 'Lucky.'"
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Information from: The Post and Courier, "http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_fe_st/storytext/dog_vs__gator/15799280/SIG=10rhs4c0o/*http://www.charleston.net"
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I'm glad the dog is ok, but it is really too bad the alligator was destroyed.
Rusty

[iceman25]

Woa! Lucky dog indeed! Getting away from a gator that size and living to tell the story is priceless indeed. Too bad the gator had to be killed

[daniel1983]

Silly people...the head and hide you sell to tourist....you put the meat in the freezer and call the friends for a bbq. Sorry but thats just how they do things in Louisiana

Only kill something that is about to kill you or what you plan to eat. A little gator in the back yard never hurt anyone...unless they were careless No point in killing an gator because the dog got out.

[tigerlily]

I don't have any problems with hunting as long as you eat what you kill, or to thin deer herds and such. Does seem sad though, since that alligator must have been pretty old.

So what exactly does alligator taste like, and don't say chicken.

[daniel1983]

So what exactly does alligator taste like, and don't say chicken.

ha ha...it tastes like alligator...kinda hard to describe It really depends on how it is processed and cooked. My two favorites are alligator sausage and alligator steaks. The sausage comes just like beef or pork sausage and alligator steaks are cut from the tail. Both are best grilled...or at least in my opinion

[SatanicIntention]

Mmm... Fried gator from Buzzard Billy's...


I don't know what it tastes like. It has a light flavor and is slightly chewy, but not like calamari(which shouldn't be chewy if it is cooked right). It's just goooood

[normballpython2]

man that dog must have been on steroids or just wasn't ready to die yet. thats one lucky canine......wish i could say the same about the gator. that just sucks that they killed him.

Brian