This is the guy to get to scrub the bottom of your boat. Did I mention he’s nuts?
That guy is pretty darn dumb and video was fun to watch, but like most of its kind, greatly exaggerated. Except for perhaps right in the beginning, that gator wasn't remotely interested in attacking, if it wanted to it would have, no matter what the guy in the water did. The gator clearly just wanted to be left alone.
Also, no way it is close to 1,000 pounds. More like 350 or 400. A lot of the length is in the tail, which is not that heavy, his body is perhaps 5 feet long. Compare the size of that gator to this 1,000 pound marlin. Not even close.
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Here's a 500 pound gator. The one in the video is perhaps this size.
https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Iowa-man-catches-500-pound-gator-in-Georgia-lake-442881123.html
Unless, of course, the guy messing with the gator is 8 feet tall and weighs 400 pounds.
In my experience it's really easy to overestimate the size of a wild animal in the water. When I was tarpon guiding we had a hammerhead that used to hang around the flats and occasionally eat a hooked tarpon. All the guides (who are very used to seeing 150 lb tarpon) saw it, and we estimated it to be about 14 feet and 800 pounds. I had a marine biologist who did a lot of shark work fishing with me one day when the shark swam right next to my boat. He said more like 9 feet and 400.
All that said, that gator is still plenty big to do damage and pretty crazy to see somebody mess with one like that. Thanks for posting, Parks.