Chesapeake Bay

Maryland Man Catches 7.5 Foot Alligator Near Chesapeake Bay

The alligator was found at Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point

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A Maryland man says he and his son hunted and killed a nearly 8-foot alligator that was lurking near the Chesapeake Bay and then ate it.

The duo went out in a kayak on Father’s Day and tracked down the gator, fearing it posed a danger to pets and humans, alligator hunter William Adams said.

“I’m from Maryland so I’m not used to that,” Adams said. “I knew that it shouldn’t be there and I needed to get it out of there.”

The alligator was found in a pond near Driftwood Beach, not far from Adams’ home in Lusby.

Alligators’ natural habitat doesn’t extend farther north than North Carolina, according to the National Zoo.

It’s unclear how the 7-foot, 6-inch gator ended up in Maryland. Adams thinks someone may have got it as a pet, then abandoned it. It is illegal to possess or purchase an alligator in Maryland.

But there were rumors of an alligator near the Chesapeake Bay as far back as 2016.

Adams said he was a little scared when he and his son went out on a kayak with chicken breasts hooked for bait. When the time was right, he says he used a crossbow to kill the alligator.

Adams plans to have the alligator skin mounted and ate the meat for dinner.

How did it taste?

“Really good,” with the taste of chicken and texture of beef, he said.

Maryland requires hunters to apply for a license, but there's no set alligator hunting season.

The natural resources department said it’s consulting with local and federal agencies about the killing, the Associated Press reported.

“We have had alligators or other non-native crocodilians show up in the wild in Maryland in the past,” the agency said. “Occasionally people who have illegally kept pet alligators release them into the wild.”

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