Old Joe, Stuffed Alligator

Crawfordville, Florida

Died 1966

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."