A giant alligator was finally killed after tormenting a family in Florida for five years – thanks to the efforts of a friend who acquired a special hunting license to end the 10-foot, 500-pound alligator’s life with an arrow.
The Craig and Chrissy Masse family were fed up with the alligator they christened Albert when he pounced on Chrissy one day while she was mowing the lawn in her backyard in Port Charlotte, on Florida’s southwest coast.
The alligator had gone after her two Labradors and pounced on Chrissy while she was mowing the lawn – which was enough to make her take action.
“Chrissy was mowing the grass over there and he came right up to her,” Craig told NBC2.
A giant alligator has been killed after years of torturing a family in Florida – thanks to the efforts of a friend who obtained a special hunting license to end the giant alligator’s life with an arrow. Above: Craig Masse, left, and friends Ron Ollerenshaw and Chop
“I thought we had to get him. I can’t have him. I don’t feel safe,’ Chrissy said. Above: Albert’s head after being killed with an arrow by the crowd’s friends
“We just see him all the time. He’s very aggressive,” Chrissy said. “We have two labradors. These are my children.”
Her friend Ron Ollerenshaw received his state alligator hunting license this year, and they hoped to end Albert’s reign of terror.
“I thought we had to get him. I can’t have him. I don’t feel safe,’ Chrissy said.
When the alligator wandered into the water near their property on Tuesday, they had their chance.
Chrissy Masse poses alongside Albert, who has stopped threatening the Masse family and their two Labrador dogs after he was killed on Tuesday
The alligator was ten feet long and weighed 500 pounds. “I shot him a few times with the arrows with a line,” Ollerenshaw, who plans to keep the alligator’s 40-pound head as a trophy, told NBC2
The terrifying creature was so large that it had to be pulled out of the water and onto the back of a truck using an excavator (above).
Ollerenshaw and another friend named Chop caught Albert with fishing lines and tried to hold the alligator in place.
“I shot him a few times with the arrows with a line,” Ollerenshaw, who plans to keep the alligator’s 40-pound head as a trophy, told NBC2.
The terrifying creature was so large that it had to be pulled out of the water and onto the back of a truck using an excavator.
Craig exclaimed, “Oh yes! We have him, yes!’
Chrissy said: “I wanted Albert to be gone. I was like so happy.’
Alligators, found in all 67 counties of Florida, are federally protected as an endangered species. But people can apply for statewide alligator hunting permits that allow them to legally hunt and kill alligators.
Although serious injuries from alligator attacks are rare, they do occur.
Last month, firefighter Juan Carlos La Verde, 34, was caught on video by a drone fending off a 12-foot alligator that attacked him while he was swimming in a lake near Tampa.
The experienced triathlete put his hands in the alligator’s mouth, forced his jaws off his head and chest, and swam back to the dock, where he himself called 911 before being rushed to the hospital by an bystander Good Samaritan.
La Verde, a former US Air Force pararescueman, underwent emergency six-hour surgery to repair damage to his skull and face and remove part of his skull from his brain, his family said at a GoFundMe facility to help with medical needs fees to help .
In his first interview since the abuse, which left him missing the right side of his skull, La Verde told ABC that when he got hit in the water, he had “everything I felt, scales and teeth.” He fought back instinctively.
Last month, firefighter Juan Carlos La Verde, 34, was caught on video by a drone fending off a 12-foot alligator that attacked him while he was swimming in a lake near Tampa
The triathlete put his hands in the alligator’s mouth, forced his jaws off his head and chest, and swam back to the dock, where he himself called 911 before being rushed to the hospital by a Good Samaritan
