Maryland man captures, kills 7-foot alligator in Chesapeake Bay

A Maryland man caught a nearly eight-foot alligator, killed it, and is now eating it for dinner.

CALVERT COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - A Maryland man caught a 7-foot-6-inch alligator, killed it, and is now eating it for dinner.

Most would expect to come across fish and crabs at Driftwood Beach, but supposedly, the huge gator has been living here near Driftwood Beach in the Chesapeake Bay.

Two weeks ago, William Adams and his son were fishing in a kayak in Lusby, Maryland which is Calvert County and all of a sudden, they spotted the head of an alligator.

After being scared by that encounter and watching the Swamp People Show, Adams and his son took matters into their own hands. They went out to track down the alligator on Sunday. It is a Father’s Day hunt he will never forget.

Adams told Fox 5’s Sierra Fox he used hooks and chicken breast to bate the reptile then he shot the alligator with a crossbow.

Some say he shouldn’t have done it, but he doesn’t regret it. He thinks it prevented a potentially deadly situation from happening.

"This alligator is dangerous because it doesn’t have its natural food that it would have in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, places like that," said Adams. "This thing could actually not have had anything to eat and the next thing it’s going after is animals and people."

Adams said there have been reports of missing pets in the area.

How did the alligator get to Maryland? That remains a mystery. Adams suspects it was someone’s pet and it escaped or they let it go.

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The Maryland Department of Natural Resources sent Fox 5 this statement:

"Maryland Natural Resources Police are still consulting with allied agencies, local and federal, on this matter.

There have been occasional rumors of alligators in the Calvert County area previously but none could be confirmed by DNR. We have had alligators or other non-native crocodilians very rarely show up in the wild in Maryland in the past. Occasionally people who have illegally kept pet alligators release them into the wild.

Any unusual wildlife activity can be reported to the DNR/USDA wildlife hotline at 1-877-463-6497, NRP at 410-260-8888, or to local law enforcement or animal control."

For now, Adams has 60 pounds of alligator meat to eat. He said it will last him a whole year and tastes like chicken.