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THE DAILY NEWS (Galveston, Texas) 14 January 04 Large, dead alligator washes up on beach (Marty Schladen)
Galveston: A 7-foot, decomposing alligator was found on the beach near 18th Street and Seawall Boulevard on Wednesday. Given its size, the reptile most likely died from artificial causes, the state’s alligator biologist said.
After the alligator was discovered Wednesday morning, workers for the Park Board of Trustees called in game wardens from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The carcass was in such stinky, rotten condition that the game wardens immediately took steps to dispose of it, said Capt. Eddie Tanuz, with the department’s La Marque office.
Amos Cooper, the state’s alligator biologist, works out of parks and wildlife’s Port Arthur office. He said that if the animal were smaller, it would likely have been killed by natural causes.
“Usually, when one washes up, it’s a smaller gator,” Cooper said. “They get caught in the water table and they start to freeze as the water freezes.”
As a cold-blooded animal, an alligator’s metabolism slows as the water cools, Cooper explained. Eventually, the water in winter can become so cold that it kills the alligator.
However, once they become about 5 feet long, alligators burrow into the mud then up and out of the water table, Cooper said.
“They don’t do a true hibernation,” Cooper said. “The weather gets below 70 F and they generally go into their dens.”
Because of that, it is unlikely that the alligator found on the beach Wednesday died from natural causes.
“Normally, a big gator like that doesn’t usually die from cold temperatures,” Cooper said.
“If that was the case, you would definitely see more than one dead like that. Most likely, somebody shot it or it got hit by a boat propeller.”
But Tanuz said that wardens inspected the animal and they did not find any bullet holes.
“If that would have been the case, we would have proceeded differently,” Tanuz said.
There is a season in which it is legal to shoot alligators in Texas. But that season runs for 20 days in September and hunters are require to obtain a special permit, Tanuz said.
Killing an alligator out of season is a class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 and court costs.
Large, dead alligator washes up on beach

The only time that a 7' gator is "large" is if it's biting you. Journalists seem to exhibit so little intelligence.