An 11-year-old girl from Southeast Texas is drawing attention after bagging an 8.5-foot, 300-pound alligator during a family hunting trip earlier this week.
Jocelyn Roberts, a middle schooler from the Town of Cleveland landed the massive reptile while hunting with her father, Trey Roberts, and her 15-year-old brother on a friend’s ranch in Rye, near Houston, according to a Facebook post Trey Roberts made Monday.
The family used raw chicken on a large fishing hook as bait, Trey Roberts told Liberty County local news website Bluebonnet News.
Jocelyn Roberts said she spotted about 40 alligators before deciding where to set the hook. When one finally took the bait, she let her father and brother pull it from the water before she stepped in to finish the hunt.
“I got scared because of how big it was for a second, but I wasn’t that scared,” Jocelyn told CBS Houston affiliate KHOU.
Afterward, Trey Roberts and his sons processed the alligator for meat, and the hide is being tanned, according to Bluebonnet News.
Alligators now thriving across Eastern Texas
The American alligator, once nearly wiped out in Texas, has made a recovery over the last few decades, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. It’s the most common type of alligator across the entire southeastern U.S., ranging from Texas to North Carolina.
After the state granted full protection in 1969 and added the reptile to the endangered list in 1973, populations steadily rebounded. By 1985, the species had recovered enough to be delisted.
Today, alligators are a familiar presence in the eastern third of Texas, from swamps and bayous to rivers and marshes. While they typically prefer freshwater, the large reptiles can also adapt to brackish conditions.
Alligators remain a protected game animal in Texas, meaning permits are required to hunt, raise, or possess them, according to officials.
These alligators can reach lengths of up to 14 feet.
