--- title: Texas Mayor Kills Alligator to Avenge Miniature Horse description: Texas mayor and great-grandmother Judy Cochran has shot and killed the alligator she suspects ate her miniature horse three years ago. canonical: https://time.com/5400913/grandma-kills-alligator/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-19T19:39:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:58.366Z og:title: Mayor Shoots and Kills Alligator to Avenge Her Miniature Horse og:description: "Don't mess with Nana" og:url: https://time.com/5400913/grandma-kills-alligator/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5f36552adfe61d6/69893a9efb4eac7083897af2/texas-mayor-alligator.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Texas-Mayor-Alligator og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mayor Shoots and Kills Alligator to Avenge Her Miniature Horse twitter:description: "Don't mess with Nana" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5f36552adfe61d6/69893a9efb4eac7083897af2/texas-mayor-alligator.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Don't Mess With Nana.' Grandma Mayor Shoots and Kills 580-pound Alligator to Avenge Death of Miniature Horse  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 19, 2018 7:39 PM UTC  Alligator AlligatorRobert Loe/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 19, 2018 7:39 PM UTC After three years of searching, [Texas](http://time.com/5397204/texas-board-of-education-remove-hillary-clinton-helen-keller/) mayor and great-grandmother Judy Cochran has shot and killed the [alligator](http://time.com/5373173/south-carolina-alligator-attack-growing/) she suspects ate her [miniature horse](http://time.com/3680984/mini-horses/). Cochran, the newly elected mayor of Livingston, Texas, says she killed the 12-foot, 580-pound gator with one shot after luring it to her family ranch with a hook baited with a raccoon carcass. “One shot in the head and he went under,” she said, [WLS-TV reports](https://abc7chicago.com/pets-animals/texas-mayor-shoots-and-kills-12-foot-alligator-/4283600/). “Typically, they’ll do a death roll and roll over and over and over, but this one didn’t.” Cochran explained that she believes the alligator ate a miniature horse that disappeared from their property three years ago. However, since the gator hunting season in Polk County lasts for only 20 days in September, it was a challenge to catch the massive reptile. “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 \[this one\].” The animal was immediately taken to a taxidermist as Cochran plans to mount its head and tail, make its hide into boots and eat the meat. “Don’t mess with Nana,” she concluded. “My grandchildren call me Nana.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5400913/grandma-kills-alligator/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5400913/grandma-kills-alligator/"},"headline":"'Don't Mess With Nana.' 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