Massive 12-Foot Alligator Captured On Florida's Lake Okeechobee

A massive 12-foot long alligator, weighing over 1,000-pound, was captured on Florida's Lake Okeechobee. An airline pilot and two friends took more than one hour and a half to lure and capture the gator with bait.

"I'm sorry, but this thing is a dinosaur and could probably eat like Santa Claus and all his reindeer! The skinner weighed it...just over 1,000 lbs! That's a 1/2 ton monster!" Lisa Howard Dutschke wrote on Facebook, sharing the photo of the huge catch.

Jim Howard of Cooper City told ABC-affiliated WPLG he spotted the gator just before sunset on Aug. 16. A bait was used to lure the reptile and a multi-pronged grappling hook to pull it close. They later used a bang stick to shoot it in the skull.

The capturing and hunting of the alligator was done under a permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that has been in effect since 1988.

Jim Howards' daughter wrote about the meat of the alligator and what her father does with the skin and the skull of the reptile.

"The skinner keeps the meat, then my dad takes the skin, but the skin won't be ready for a whole year! For the skin to turn into purses and wallets and belts and boots, the skin has to go through a pretty lengthy process which i know nothing about. But I do know you get to choose the color of your leather! (I'll take a purse this year, dad! FYI to get a purse made from gator skin that you caught costs about $1,200, so I won't be getting a purse)" she wrote.

Alligator sightings are common in Florida and there are several instances when these reptiles are seen lurking in the neighborhood. However, it is rare a human comes in such close contact with a gator. About one-quarter of the estimated 5 million American gators living in southeastern United States are found in Florida.

In June, police in Florida said a missing woman was believed to have been dragged into a pond by an alligator. The woman was reportedly walking her dogs near a pond in Davie, Florida, before she disappeared.