Old Joe the Alligator

Died 1966 - Wakulla Springs, Florida

Old Joe was an 11-foot-long alligator of undetermined age (some said he was 300) who lived on a sand bar in Wakulla Springs. He never bothered anybody -- not even the children and pets who swam around him. He was much beloved by the locals until he was shot dead by a poacher in 1966.

The Fish and Wildlife Service stuffed Joe, then dragged him around the state for years, an exhibit to be poked and prodded by sticky-fingered school kids. Now Joe is back home, in dignified retirement in a glass case in the lobby of the Wakulla Springs Hotel. "We just had him redone," the desk clerk told us. "He looks real nice."

Every New Years Eve the Hotel puts a party hat on him.

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