re: 5 dog tags, one nearly 25 years old, found in the stomach of 12ft SC gator

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Cordray’s handles just over 100 alligators a year at an operation that turns wild game into sausage or jerky. It also offers taxidermy services and will transform your alligator into anything from a full-body wall mount to a “leg” lamp.

“We normally don’t go into the stomach,” Cordray said. “That’s because we once went into the stomach of a big one years ago, and there was a very rotten 3-foot gar inside. It smelled so bad that every one had to leave.”

South Carolina’s alligators typically grow to 13 feet and live more than 60 years, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. The biggest American alligator on record was 19 feet, 3 inches, caught in Louisiana, according to the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Cordray’s is run by Claudia and Michael Cordray, and their son, Kenneth, handles the taxidermy. The biggest South Carolina gator ever brought into the shop was 13 feet, 9 inches. “The heaviest was over 800 pounds and was missing part of his tail, so we are not sure how long he really was,” Claudia Cordray said.

The state’s alligator hunting season ended in October, but the removal of the large gator was permitted because it was on private land, Cordray said.

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