Pictures of Alligator Swimming with Dead Deer in Its Mouth.....Truth!
The story:
Pictures of an alligator swimming in a lake with a dead deer in its mouth. The text says the picture was taken by a media helicopter from KTBS over Lake George in Ocala, Florida.
The Truth:
The pictures are authentic, but the explanatory information is incorrect.
We're not sure what lake the email is referring to.
Perhaps Georges Lake, which is about 60 miles from Ocala, not in Ocala.
Also, these pictures were not taken by the KTBS helicopter.
KTBS is in Shreveport, Louisiana, which is more than 800 miles away.
KTBS tells us that this picture did not come from their helicopter, which crashed in 1992 and has not been replaced.
The facts are that these pictures were taken in 2004 by Terri Jenkins, an officer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service over the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge about 40 miles South of Savannah, Georgia.
According to a news release, she was aboard a helicopter that was igniting prescribed fires in the refuge when the 12 to 13-foot alligator was spotted swimming with the full-grown deer in its mouth.
The alligator will not be charged with hunting deer out of season, animal cruelty, or any one of several possible water quality violations.
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