Charles Helms and a friend were enjoying a simple game of golf in Palmetto, Florida, when a hulking American alligator walked right through their game.
With the swagger only an apex predator can exude, the alligator lumbered across Buffalo Creek Golf Course’s pristine fairway, ignoring the golfing party entirely.
Uploaded on May 25 to his Facebook page, Helms’ video, above, has since made international news.
The pair estimated the gargantuan alligator to be “at least” 15 feet long.
“I think that’s two guys in an alligator suit,” Helms can be heard saying to his pal, in utter disbelief.
Helms later told ABC Action News that he couldn’t believe what he saw at first. “I didn’t know if we were being punked or something,” said Helms.
“It was just laying down, resting, when it got up and started moving towards the big lake,” said Helms.
Wendy Schofield, a golf course employee, told News 3 that the behemoth has inhabited the golf course for years. “He has been here for a very, very long time, he’s not new at all.”
“He doesn’t bother anybody and they don’t bother him, he’s like a mascot for the course,” Schofield said.
Schofield, who has worked for the golf course for five years, said that the massive gator has been estimated to be 15 to 16 feet in length.
On average, adult male American alligators measure between 11 and 15 ft in length. Living between 35 to 50 years in the wild, their species has been on earth for more than 150 million years.
Gators have also been known to eat their own kind, as some found out during this walk through a Floridian nature preserve.
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