Big Bull a nuisance no longer on Gator Boys

Paul and Jimmy proved that they can handle what Mississippi can dish out this week on Animal Planet's Gator Boys.

On Animal Planet's Gator Boys, Jimmy has never been the “water guy” with the gators—that’s more Paul’s area. But, he knows that in Mississippi, he is going to have to push his gator comfort zone.

“This mud-clay that they have works like suction cups,” he explained, “and is adding a whole new danger level that I need to adapt to.”

Everybody on the team is adapting, it seems, to the sheer size of the gators they are finding in Mississippi. This week, they went after the gator of all gators, Big Bull.

Escaped Gators

Big Bull was one of the gators that escaped from Gulf Coast Gator Ranch during Hurricane Katrina, and the team knew it was one that had to be found and returned, lest it be killed by a hunter or by someone simply trying to rid a “nuisance gator” from their area. Just stumbling upon the gator out in a swamp somewhere seemed unlikely, but a call for a “massive gator” came in one night—and the team just knew it was him.

The gator had lunged at a man’s child, so it was actually surprising that it was not dead already; many people would have made sure of it. But, these people called the Gator Ranch, and gave them an opportunity to catch what they hoped was Big Bull. Well, after over an hour of floating around in the swamp—it was nighttime, to boot—they found what they thought might be the nuisance gator from the call. Big Bull? No—he wasn’t even 10 feet. But, he was one of the Gator Ranch’s lost gators—they knew from a notch they place in their gators’ tails for identification—so it was a good catch, nevertheless.

But, Big Bull?

Big Bull at Last

Well, the Gator Boys were in luck. They got a call about a “20-foot” gator, which one would hope was Big Bull—hate to think that a lot of those giant gators are roaming around people’s yards. Initially, the guys thought that the kid and his dad were just exaggerating. But, they weren’t exaggerating about it being a giant alligator, and the guys called in reinforcements.

“This is the biggest alligator I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jimmy said. “I’m pretty sure that we just found Big Bull in this guy’s backyard.”

And, find him they did—and if they needed to prove to anyone out there that they are the real deal in alligator hunting, catching this 13.5-foot gator should have done the trick.

“Not too bad for some guys that just got to Mississippi,” Allan, co-owner of Gulf Coast Gator Ranch, observed.

No, not too bad at all.

Stay tuned.

Gator Boys airs on Animal Planet on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. E/P.

Image: Animal Planet

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