The Mississppi's, Alligator Gar

Description:
The alligator gar would be a freaky fish to come across while fishing or swimming. With the head of an alligator and the body of a fish, the alligator gar would give a person quite a scare. They have a dark brown body, a grey body, or black body, followed by an alligator like face. The alligator is protected by hard scales that help prevent it from cutting itself on rocks and other hard or sharp objects that may be laying or floating in the water. The alligator gar is too large to be housed in the average home, and is hardly ever seen in zoo aquariums, as well. Although the alligator gar is too large for most home aquariums, they're still sold in some pet stores.

Size:
The alligator gar can reach 8 feet in length, when an adult, but there have been reported records of them reaching greater lengths. The adult alligator gar can weigh more than 300 pounds, and can deliver a pretty nasty smack to other animals when it turns, because of how much force it puts into its turn.

Diet:
The alligator has a rather large appetite, a carnivorous appetite. Alligator gars will search the murky waters that they inhabit for: a variety of fish, water mammals, and whatever else they can get their razor sharp teeth on.

Life Span:
The alligator gar can live anywhere from 10-20 years of age; spending all of its time in the water.

Temperament:
The alligator gar has a highly aggressive temper. They're territorial and carnivorous which automatically scare us humans and animals, away.

Habitat:
Alligator gars are native to the Mississippi river, where they inhabit dark, murky waters. They don't just stay in deep parts of the river, but they also stay toward the shore. If you find a slow, sluggish, dark, murky part of water in the Mississippi, there are most likely alligator gar there, too.

Population:
Sadly, the scary but yet fascinating creatures are becoming extinct. The alligator gar has been limited to small numbers, and is slowly disappearing from the planet. Alligator gars are hunted for many different reasons: food, apparel, shows, fun, and some people fear them so much that they purposely kill them trying to deplete their inhabitance faster.

Friend or Foe?
The alligator gar doesn't hunger human flesh, but yet there are reported attacks on humans from the alligator gar. Why? Well, it mistakes human movement in the water to be an animal that it really hungers for. So if I were you, I wouldn't go putting my feet in waters that the alligator gar may inhabit.