Enormous alligator spotted on Florida golf course

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Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Enormous alligator spotted on Florida golf course
Alligator spotted at the Valencia Golf and Country Club in Naples, Florida on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020.

NAPLES, Fla. -- Take a look at an enormous alligator that stopped golfers in their tracks in Florida on Wednesday.

Witnesses took pictures of the reptile at the Valencia Golf and Country Club in Naples, Florida.

Golfers say the gator appeared to be about 17 feet long.

The alligator was spotted at the country club during tropical storm Eta.

The sheer size of the animal had many on social media questioning whether it was actually real.

However, according to David Steen, the reptile and amphibian research leader of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there was "nothing unusual" about the size of the alligator.

"It's an iconic species and conservation success story. But in short, there's nothing unusual about this alligator or the video," he said on Twitter.

It's not the first time an alligator has been spotted on the golf course.

In 2017, American golfer Cody Gribble nudged a slumbering gator off of the fairway and into the water during the opening day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida.

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