Multiple dog tags among odd items found in 445-pound gator’s stomach

RAVENEL, S.C. (NEXSTAR) – A local meat processing and taxidermy business found a collection of bizarre items in the belly of a 445-pound alligator a customer brought in recently.

Among the photos of turkey, deer and other game that people brought in recently to be processed, the 12-foot gator stands out among the Facebook photos Cordray’s shared.

The alligator was apparently killed after encroaching on private land Friday.

Cordray’s said they usually don’t open up the stomach, but after doing so that morning they found “5 dog tags, 1 bullet jacket, 1 spark plug, loads of turtle shells, and several bobcat claws” inside.

Two of the dogs tags were legible still and one phone number still worked, according to the post.

Staff at Cordray’s called the number and a man confirmed that the two tags belonged to hunting dogs he’d owned while leasing the property where the gator was killed 24 years ago.

American alligators will live roughly 50 years in the wild, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.