We are in the cattle business, and our ranch hand, "Chuy," is often out at our property, out at the lake, and is always checking on things. Chuy is a very nice fellow, but he surprised me when he called me up with a very, very concerned voice this Sunday afternoon. He asked me if my family and I, with our little 4 year old daughter, were out swimming at the lake over the weekend. I told him "no, that we had a paint project to finish up," although the thought of escaping this heat seemed like a grand idea at the time. Anyhow, Chuy explained to me that he had seen an alligator, which he estimated to be 8' long. My first impression after getting off the phone with Chuy was that my family and I were very luck to have avoided any trouble with this gator over the weekend.

I went out to the property this morning, and sure enough, there was a huge gator swimming out in some deep water along the dam. I didn't hesitate to pull out my 243 and pull the trigger. The gator did the thrashing and flopping thing, for a second or two, and then he disappeared down in some some fairly deep water. I am convinced I hit him in the head.

My question is this, how long before the gator will float up? Secondly, while this gator clearly had to go for safety reasons (children, dogs, etc.) what about a 3' or 4' gator? Are alligators horrible for a lake, or do they serve a purpose? I would guess that a big gator would get his/her share of bass. I would hate to think that several trophy largmouth are going into the belly of one of these creatures.

I have looked around for any archived discussion on the topic, and there isn't much. Does anyone have any further insight?

By the way, there is also a little bitty gator in there, less than 4' long. I wouldn't think a 3' gator would cause any problems for a lake.