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Where Florida Gators Become Nuggets and Handbags
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October 16, 2009
Where Florida Gators Become Nuggets and Handbags
From the Associated Press:
The knives are sharpened and the shiny steel gurneys bloodied at All American Gator Products, the end of the line for about 1,000 alligators killed during this year's hunting season in Florida.
It's the busiest time of year here at one of the state's largest gator processing plants, where the toothy reptiles make their first stop on a path from the swamp to a hamburger bun, a basket of nuggets or a spot on a shelf full of handbags, wallets and souvenir heads. . . .
The facility smells like, well, alligator — a fishy, overpowering stench that takes a little getting used to.
To owner Brian Wood, "It smells like money. . . .”
Last year, Wood had about $1.2 million in sales, 70 percent from alligator meat, which generally goes for up to $9 a pound.
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Comments (9)
Read about this yesterday. I can imagine the stench. I have had deep fried Alligator"bites". They were tasty.
Anyone ever driven past a chicken processing facility? This is probably worse.
when I was kid alligators were endangered species- now we can hunt them!! Goes to show that the Endangered Species Act can work for certain animals.
I had gator nuggets down in the keys in the early '80s- must have been farmed gators back then. I also had a pet caiman (South American gator) for a pet- grew to be 3 feet long!! He was an awesome pet and put on quite a show during feeding time.
Always good to see a formerly endangered species come back to a healthy managed population. I just hope we can get the wolves to this point instead of an overpopulation
My friends & I skin & process our own gators. If you can skin a deer, you can learn to skin a gator, but deer is easier. These professional processers will buy your gator or process it for a fee, but the fee is pretty high. By the way, I don't think gator tastes like chicken. It's closer to frog legs, but still different. When people ask me, I tell 'em it tastes like crocodile.
Gator is tasty, and the smells like money quote reminds me of the python problem.
Shane, How's the python taste? smell?
I think a gator hunt would be fun...something different from Idaho hunting.....
There is a business in Golden Meadows, Louisiana which drys and sells alligator penii for sale to Japanese men as an aphrodesiac. They grind it into a powder and eat it. I know it sounds like a joke but I'm not kidding. Everything but the roar is used with the gator in South Louisiana.
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Anyone ever driven past a chicken processing facility? This is probably worse.
when I was kid alligators were endangered species- now we can hunt them!! Goes to show that the Endangered Species Act can work for certain animals.
I had gator nuggets down in the keys in the early '80s- must have been farmed gators back then. I also had a pet caiman (South American gator) for a pet- grew to be 3 feet long!! He was an awesome pet and put on quite a show during feeding time.
Read about this yesterday. I can imagine the stench. I have had deep fried Alligator"bites". They were tasty.
Always good to see a formerly endangered species come back to a healthy managed population. I just hope we can get the wolves to this point instead of an overpopulation
My friends & I skin & process our own gators. If you can skin a deer, you can learn to skin a gator, but deer is easier. These professional processers will buy your gator or process it for a fee, but the fee is pretty high. By the way, I don't think gator tastes like chicken. It's closer to frog legs, but still different. When people ask me, I tell 'em it tastes like crocodile.
Gator is tasty, and the smells like money quote reminds me of the python problem.
Shane, How's the python taste? smell?
I think a gator hunt would be fun...something different from Idaho hunting.....
There is a business in Golden Meadows, Louisiana which drys and sells alligator penii for sale to Japanese men as an aphrodesiac. They grind it into a powder and eat it. I know it sounds like a joke but I'm not kidding. Everything but the roar is used with the gator in South Louisiana.
Post a Comment