An enormous alligator caught in Mississippi on Saturday just broke the state’s record but it’s still not big enough to break the Texas record in terms of weight.
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks shared a photo to Facebook on Saturday showing three of the four hunters who harvested the 802.5-pound alligator, which measured 14 feet and 3 inches long.
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Department of Wildlife officials said the alligator had a belly girth of 66 inches and a tail girth of 46.5 inches.
The catch ties the Texas record for length. An 18-year-old caught a 14-foot, 3-inch gator in May 2013 during a public hunt on the James E. Daughtrey Wildlife Management Area.
According to the Dallas Morning News, an alligator captured in Houston in Oct. 2016 was a bit shorter at 13 feet, 8 inches, but it weighed in at nearly 900 pounds and is thought to be one of the heaviest gators ever captured in Texas.
The world record for the longest alligator is held by a 15-foot, 9-inch behemoth caught in Alabama in 2014 that weighed more than 1,000 pounds, according to American Oceans.
In Texas, it’s legal to hunt alligators only during the open season — April 1 - June 30. Hunters must have a license, and a special permit is required to hunt in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. If you see any illegal hunting activity call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-792-GAME (4263).