Chopper, the Mississippi River Gator

The gator in the photo above is Misssissippi's new state record, taken in the 2014 gator hunt by permit holder, Brian Montgomery of Starkville and his team. The gator weighed in at 792 pounds and was over 13 feet long.  In 2013 I was lucky enough to win a tag in the Mississippi alligator hunt.  Our alligator hunting team consisted of myself, my son, a good buddy and his young son.  We managed to bag a 10 foot 8 inch gator.  The experience gained in taking that gator was used to write the hunt for Bent Gambrel hunting club's "pet" gator, "Chopper".

Our team's 2013 gator, (left) was two feet shorter than the 2014 state record, but was still quite a monster.  In the novel Delta View, outdoor writer Clint gave Deke a short lesson in judging gators:

“If you measure between a gator’s eyes to the front of the snout, that measurement in inches will be approximately equal to the length of the gator in feet”, said Clint.

Deke looked at the gator making some mental calculations.  It looked like it was more than a foot and half between his eyes and his snout though it certainly had to be shy of that.  The gator was enormous, probably weighing as much as 800 pounds.

One more thing that is interesting about alligators as they relate to humans.  There is a gland in humans which resembles a pine cone which is in fact called the "pineal" gland.  This gland is in the very center of the brain and no one quite understands its function; however, many suggest that it is through this gland that the physical world of our bodies connects to the more virtual world of our consciousness, our self-awareness which some would say is our "soul".  An interface in other words, and French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650), even called it "the seat of the soul".  Many ancient sculptures and artwork include a pine cone, symbolizing the pineal gland and more importantly, "the soul".  Most other animals have a pineal gland, but the alligator does not.  So, the alligator is a beast without a soul?  If you've ever handled them, you might already think so.
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