Old Joe: Metal Gator
Mount Dora, Florida
In life, Old Joe was a reptilian horror who prowled the lakes around Mount Dora: a 15-foot-long alligator with a notorious appetite for small animals and livestock. But that was long ago, and by 2018 he was just a memory -- elevated to the status of "legend" -- and two local citizens decided to commemorate the gator with a life-size bronze replica. They were inspired by, of all things, a Florida statue they'd seen of the Beatles' John Lennon.
Old Joe was unveiled next to Lake Beauclair, one of his favorite hangouts. The 1,200-pound bronze likeness was crafted by the same foundry that created the statue of the Conch-Blowing Greeter of Key West. Old Joe is displayed at ground level so that he can be ridden by children, something that would have been disastrous with the real Old Joe. Although sitting on a bronze gator in shorts on a sunny summer afternoon can bring its own kind of danger....