You just never know what you will see from day to day. John Lowther, son of Donnie and Paula Lowther of Hendricks, went fishing but it wasn’t a fish he ended up with. Lowther and a friend were fishing on the Mon River close to Fairmont.
They were fishing Paw Paw Creek on Thursday night when another man snagged the alligator in the foot. He cut it loose, so Lowther decided he would hunt the gator on Friday. Department of Natural Resources had been hunting for the alligator for two or three weeks because it was spotted near a child day care center.
Lowther said when he arrived at the area of the creek, which was by a paper mill, it didn’t take long to spot the animal. People assumed the alligator was staying near the area because of the warm water being dumped by the mill. He shot the gator which measured out at 52 inches long.
The alligator was taken to Fairmont State College to be examined. DNR was interested to see what the animal had been eating.
Lowther skinned the animal and plans to have a wallet made out of the tanned hide.