Massive 844-Pound Alligator Nicknamed 'Snaggletooth' Captured in South Carolina
After a four-year pursuit, hunters finally brought in the nearly 14-foot reptile, which set a new state record for the second-largest alligator ever caught.
Four South Carolina residents have concluded a four-year search with the capture of an 844-pound alligator, nicknamed 'Snaggletooth' for its distinctive teeth. The massive reptile, measuring nearly 14 feet long, was caught on September 28 around Lake Moultrie in Berkeley County.
Cole Poplin and William Ard, members of Renegade Bowfishing LLC, alongside hunters Chris and Craig Webb, were responsible for the successful hunt. Poplin stated he had been tracking the alligator for about four years, often spotting it outside the typical alligator hunting season which runs from early September to early October.
“I spotted this gator four years ago, roughly. I’ve hunted this gator a lot over the last three or four years. Four years later, we have a magical night, and he just happened to slip up and make a mistake, and we made it count,” Poplin told The Post and Courier.
The sheer size of Snaggletooth required a tractor to move it after its capture. Renegade Bowfishing LLC shared on Facebook that the alligator had stalled a 1,000-pound winch, describing it as an "Absolute freak of a dinosaur."
Chris Webb described the experience as the "hunt of a lifetime," detailing how they encountered an 11-foot alligator earlier that night but decided to hold out for a larger catch.
This capture marks the second-largest alligator ever recorded in South Carolina. The record for the largest alligator was set in 2010, also at Lake Moultrie, when Maryellen Mara-Christian caught a 1,025-pound, 13-foot alligator.
