Best Alligator Defense (not another hypothetical "best caliber for..." thread)

[Zen21Tao]

(This isn’t just another hypothetical “best caliber for X” thread.)

Here in Florida gator (not football players) attacks have been quite frequent lately with three deaths occurring in one week.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/17/Tampabay/Another_day__another_.shtml

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195851,00.html


In fact today a 75 year old woman was “held hostage” in her home by an alligator until a Sheriffs Deputy could get a professional gator trapper to arrive to capture the gator after the Deputy made it mad by shooting it in the head with a .223.

One .223-caliber round pierced the hide of the gator's head, but the showdown wasn't over.
"It didn't hurt him," said Mickey Fagan, a professional gator trapper who arrived a few minutes later. "It just made him mad."

One thing that p***** me off is that a citizen defending herself and/or her dog against a deadly gator a few days earlier was given a warning citation for hunting without a license. Imagine that, needing a license to defend one's life or the life of a loved one. (Just a minor side rant).

On Saturday, a woman near Bradenton got a warning citation for hunting without a license after she shot a gator that attacked her golden retriever.

Ok, so here it is:
What firearm (pistol or rifle caliber) would offer the best defense against an alligator attack?

 

[Vic303]

12ga 3" mag slugs maybe?

 

[Sinsaba]

I don't think you could count on 1 round of almost anything. The brain is so small you could miss with just about anything.

I think repeated application of .357 magnum rounds to the cranium of the reptile would dispatch it.

 

[loadedround]

44Mag, 45Colt, 454 Casull, or 12 ga Shotgun with 00 Buck or slugs.

 

[Cosmoline]

I remember when I lived in the deep south as a child, nobody paid much attention to the gators. They were seen as lazy and more of a nuisance to cars than a real threat to life and limb. I went swimming in a swamp behind our house that had some gators, not to mention very lethal snakes. But for some reason known only to my childish mind, I was only really terrified of stepping on a snapping turtle!

Anyway, back on topic a long stick for non-lethal defense and a shotgun to the area behind the eyes for lethal. Doesn't have to be buckshot or even a 12 ga, but it does have to be in the brainpan. A shot anwhere else, even with a big boomer rifle, is just going to create a thrashing menace.

 

[mikep99]

I was wondering the same exact thing.

I am in MIA, so I have been wondering the same as you Zen21.

I have a .40 cal, do you think 12 rounds would do the trick?

 

[jrou111]

I regularly go canoeing on a creek that is well known to be the home of gators. I've yet to have any problems with them, and probably won't, but I keep a 4" Taurus Tracker 44magnum on my hip just in case. The Mobile, AL delta is loaded with gators as well, I once had one approach me when I was putting the boat on the trailer.

 

[mrwiggins]

aim for the eyes

i've seen fellas hunting them put ax's in the head

 

[James T Thomas]

Nitro express for lizards

Somewhere I recall that the brain of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was also walnut size.

Now, isn't that professional hunter with the double rifle in Jurassic Park lucky he didn't get his chance to stand up to one and take his shots?

Of course that man never had the benefit of military training or he never would have that gun leave his side for some dirt bag to tamper with.
Liberal movie with liberal "heroes." The saboteur never was confronted nor held responsible for the lives of the innocent people he killed due to his "compassionate and moral" act! I would have seen to it that he would have become a raptor meal for his act of portrayed "bravery."

 

[John-Melb]

Gator/Crock medicine

I remember reading somewhere that AA crews at Cairns in Queensland during WW2 used to sometimes use the Saltwater Crocs in the harbour for target practice.

Ideal choice for large aquatic super-lizards, that's easy - 40mm Bofors!

Now for a reality check - Something BIG! which shoots FAST!

Aim for head/brain area and empty the bloody magazine!

 

[LOST SOUL]

Shotgun is all you need.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I used a 22 magnum. You don't need all that much gun, just good bullet placement.

 

[Dave R]

What's good placement on a gator?

 

[razorburn]

Yeah, I've read of them being dispatched by cops with their sidearms. I think pretty much anything heavy enough to penetrate that bone could do it. A hard cast .357 would be my minimum. Did they say "hunting iwithout license"? If it's legal to hunt gators, maybe ask a gator hunter.

 

[pat86323]

+1 lone gunman
however i would probably feel better armed with a shotgun then my 10/22. And i would imagine that if you were a pretty good shot taking out a gator would be no problem. The little scaly ridges run on both sides of the critters spine. A well placed shotgun slug or high power pistol/rifle cardridge could pretty easily sever the spine.......and i doubt even a critter as tough as a gator bounces back from that.

 

[Cosmoline]

What's good placement on a gator?

Behind the eyes. And you really don't need a magnum or a high-penetration bullet. They're not bear. The Cajuns have been killing them for centuries with primitive scatterguns or less.

 

[mikep99]

ok, you see this: where do you shoot?

This is how you do it:

Can anyone tell what this guy has in his hand?

 

[Tory]

Watch it again.......

"Liberal movie with liberal "heroes." The saboteur never was confronted nor held responsible for the lives of the innocent people he killed due to his "compassionate and moral" act! I would have seen to it that he would have become a raptor meal for his act of portrayed 'bravery.'"

He did. I don't know what YOU saw, but the saboteur in JP I ran off the road, tried to hoof his fat butt down to the ferry and got "slimed" by a couple of the smaller carnivores, for whom he became a buffet.

 

[noresttill]

If I recall correctly, the only legal way to hunt gator in the glades is to use a boom stick. I stick with a procussion trigger on the end.

This is what ive heard, I could be wrong though.

 

[BigFatKen]

read the book

Now, isn't that professional hunter with the double rifle in Jurassic Park lucky he didn't get his chance to stand up to one and take his shots?

Of course that man never had the benefit of military training or he never would have that gun leave his side for some dirt bag to tamper with.
Liberal movie with liberal "heroes." The saboteur never was confronted nor held responsible for the lives of the innocent people he killed due to his "compassionate and moral" act! I would have seen to it that he would have become a raptor meal for his act of portrayed "bravery."

In the book, the old man gets eaten.

 

[Cromlech]

I went to Australia Zoo while I was on holiday in Queensland. They had several saltwater crocs and a couple of American Alligators. Shot placement would be very important, and you may even be able to kill with a .22MAG if you can hit the eyes/head several times. I'd still rather have something bigger though, in case it's one of the 6-7 metre (20-23ft), 1000Kg (2200lb) (Yes they do exist!) 'supercrocs' that Steve Irwin was talking about!

 

[ball3006]

Alligator defense is just like....

criminal defense...........BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.......chris3

 

[texascarl]

When I lived on the Gulf coast in gator country I asked where to shoot a gator to kill it quickly. My Acadian in-laws said 'imagine a line between the gators eyes. Find the center, then shoot about 2 inches, 3 inches behind that spot, depending on how big the gator is'. I never shot one, just passing along the info for what it's worth.

 

[Mannlicher]

this whole thing is out of control. Were it not for the media hype, it would only be important to those that were eaten.

That Bradenton woman spraying lead around like that was more of a threat to her neighbors than the 3 foot 'gator ever was.

I believe deer have killed more folks in Florida than Alligators. If you feel you just have to arm yourself though, the standard litnany of guns will surfice.

 

[Sheldon J]

Read a story

a few year's back about a guy in Africa that hunted croc's that were killing villagers. Claimed that they had such a small brain and primitive nervous system that once shot in the head they like a shark could take up to 30 minutes to become totaly harmless.