Social media footage shows Judy Cochran, 73, calmly killing the 12ft, 580lbs creature with a single head shot. The mayor of Livingston in Texas, believes the gator had eaten her miniature horse around three years ago. In her county, registered gun holders have permission to hunt the reptiles for three weeks during hunting season in September. The granny decided to target the massive creature and with the help of a trapper lured the gator to the riverbank using a scented dead raccoon.

“That’s a monster,” her son-in-law, Scott Hughes, can be heard saying during video on Facebook of Cochran aiming her shotgun at the animal. “Nana, you better hit him good, because that’s that horse-eater. “Get him right behind the brain.” Ms Cochran didn’t miss and killed the alligator instantly.