Civil War gator story ‘a hoax’

Website claims a 185-year-old, 910-pound alligator had Confederate bullets in its body

The biologist over the state’s alligator program has labeled as a “hoax” an online report of Civil War bullets being found in the body of a 185-year-old, 910-pound gator killed in Mississippi.

A story posted Nov. 24 by WorldNewsDailyReport.com has been making the rounds on Facebook and other social media sites, creating a stir.

“That’s simply a case of some very creative writing,” said Ricky Flynt, of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “It’s a hoax.”

Flynt should know. He took the photograph used with the story. It was taken in 2012 of what was then the state’s new alligator record of 697.5 pounds, legally killed by a team of hunters led by Tom Grant of Brandon.

According to Flynt there are two other misleading details of the story posted on, the age and weight.

The biologist said that as far as he knows, there has never been a confirmation of an alligator from anywhere surpassing 100 years, much less 185. And, the largest alligator ever taken by a hunter in Mississippi was the 792-pounder taken in 2014 by Brian Montgomery, Jesse Phillips and Scott Berry in the Mississippi River near Port Gibson.

Flynt said the largest alligator he’s ever certified in Mississippi was a 938-pound, nuisance gator taken from the Pascagoula River about 10 years ago.

The website’s home page describes World News Daily Report as “American Jewish Zionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedicated on covering biblical archeology news and other mysteries around the Globe.”