Texas Mayor Shoots & Kills, Mini-Horse Killing Alligator

Livingston, TX (CBS Local)- The mayor of Livingston, Texas got revenge Sunday on an alligator that allegedly ate one of her mini-horses a few years ago.

Judy B. Cochran, elected mayor of the town in May, shot and killed a 12-foot long, 580-pound alligator at her ranch in Goodrich, Texas on Sunday night. Cochran explained to the Houston Chronicle that the family is familiar with this gator because of an incident with one of the family's mini-horses a few years ago.

"We think this is the gator that ate one of our miniature horses several years ago, as big as this gator was, he could've easily eaten it,"she said. "Typically the gators don't bother us, but we've been looking for (this one)."

As mayor, Cochran is very familiar with the county laws that restrict the hunting of gators and she made sure to note that this kill was well within the parameters.

"There are a lot of requirements to kill a gator in Polk County," she explained. "We're one of 12 counties that has a hunting season for alligators, between Sept. 10 and 30. You have to have a permit and tags from a wildlife biologist, and you have to catch it on a hook first. We don't just go to the ranch and hunt a gator."

According to the Chronicle, the gator was lured with a seasoned raccoon on a hook. The incident happened in the same pond in which Cochran's then 5-year-old grandson helped kill a similarly large reptile in 2009.

As one would expect, Twitter had plenty of reactions.