Chopper Has Passed Away.

[charlie sherrill]

He was an alligator. He was caught in the Pascagoula River in 1958. The guy that caught him brought him back to Brooklyn,Ms. and put him on a chain and cable so he wouldn't wander off. Chopper's home was a small pond in front of the trapper's house. He lived there for the last 51 years. I don't know how old he was but he was 6' long when caught and about 10' long when he died. The trapper died over 30 years ago. His family stills lives there and kept Chopper fed.

Alligators don't have much of a personality so I don't know if he was happy or not. I first saw him when I was 14. I'm 61 now. He was doing the same thing then that he was doing when I last saw him a few weeks ago...sleeping in the sun. Most everybody around here knew about the Brooklyn alligator. People would often stop on the side of the road to look at him. I once had to go there and run some kids off who were trying to feed him a dog. The dog got away and so did the kids. I don't chase people on foot anymore.

It's sad that he lived on a leash for the last 51 years but looking at him you couldn't tell that. I guess he was happy just having somewhere to lie in the sun and not be hunted. It's even sadder that he's gone now. Leland has some good pictures of him. I'll try to get him to post them tomorrow.

 

[perpster]

I hope Chopper doesn't mind if I shed some crocodile tears.

 

[Bullman]

I don't mean to be disrespectul or anything, but he could live on as a nice pair of boots. or maybe an exotic gun rig.

 

[slowburninsteve]

I wonder if he was one of Gatorfarmer's relatives????????

 

[s&wchad]

If I had a gator, I'd dig a moat!

You reminded me of this story...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi02psMSC34

 

[Wheelgunner840]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi02psMSC34

"A dog has bigga teeth than my alligator!"


Couple of real rocket scientists there!

Too bas about Chopper. Gator or not, when you haven't done anything wrong, going through life under lock and key just aint living.

WG840

 

[wheelgun1958]

Woulda made some good boots. Maybe a holster or two!

 

[Spotteddog]

Wallet(s), luggage and don't forget!
"Gator, it's what's for dinner"!
Someone told me once they taste like whatever the Gator ate last?
Sorry for the loss of a boyhood chum Charlie? And you gotta' be really careful about saying "chum" and "Gator" in the same sentence?

 

[marine2541]

50 + years! I doubt if Chopper would have made it that long in the wild. He would have wandered into someone's pool or some moreon-killer who just likes to shoot things would have used him for target practice. Alligators have a primitive brain and are pretty much just into eating and sleeping in the sun. But, then, one has to evaluate whether living a few years free is better then many years captured. I'll leave that to the philosophers on the forum.

 

[rburg]

Originally posted by marine2541:
5Alligators have a primitive brain and are pretty much just into eating and sleeping in the sun.

Hmmm. That doesn't sound so bad to me. I'd just like to see some sun up here. I like eating myself. And napping in the sun isn't so bad.

 

[Jim Shugart]

A blonde goes into a gun store to buy a shotgun.

She says, "I want some alligator shoes, but I can't afford them. I'm gonna have to shoot me an alligator."

That night on the way home, the store owner drives by the blonde standing waist-deep in water. She fires at an alligator, then throws him up onto the bank and rolls him over. The gun store guy gets out of his car and walks over to her. There's a pile of half a dozen dead alligators, all laying on their backs.

"Crap!", says the Blonde, "This one is barefoot, too."

Yeah, I know.

- Jim

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Originally posted by marine2541:
Alligators have a primitive brain and are pretty much just into eating and sleeping in the sun.

So what's wrong with that??????

Throw in the occasional making of little bitty aligators and you can sign me up.