1000-pound alligator caught

THOMASTON. KAZINFORM - Mandy Stokes put her pearls. Ever since Keith Fancher and his crew pulled a 14-foot, 2-inch, 838-pound alligator from the Alabama River in 2011 to set the standard for the largest ever legally killed by an Alabama hunter, Stokes had jokingly told friends and family that if she was ever drawn for a tag, she would wear her finest so she'd look good when being interviewed after breaking it.

The pearls looked good hanging around her neck about 10 hours after she and her crew of husband John Stokes, brother-in-law Kevin Jenkins and his children, brought a monster alligator to the check-in station at Roland Cooper State Park in Camden, reported Arab News citing al.com. Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries biologists had no trouble measuring the beast at 15 feet even, but they had to call for some relief when trying to weigh it. The first attempt completely destroyed the winch assembly used to easily hoist most average gators, including the Fancher alligator. Enlisting the assistance of a park backhoe to lift it, a WFF biologist officially called the weight at 1,011.5 pounds. Those dimensions easily make the Stokes gator the biggest ever killed in Alabama. Experts suggest it may be the largest alligator ever legally killed by a hunter anywhere in the world.