[DON WALKUP]

the smithsonian has a 25' specimen (stuffed, of course) of a nile crocidile...

peter hathaway capstick killed a 22' croc in africa. it's in one of his books. he described it as being "waist high to me when lying flat on the ground" (after he shot it with a .375 H&H)

there are regular reports of 15-20 foot sea-going crocs from "down under".

alligator mississippiensis regularly reach 8-10', 10' and larger are not as common but can be found.

there are reports of alligators being found in waterways as far north as oklahoma now.

i read a report from a florida state fish and game biologist who said "i don't believe the alligator was as endangered as thought. it made a recovery much too fast. a matter of 6-8 years. i think it was able to seclude itself well enough"

where the photograph may not be of a "real 23 footer" it still tells us these leviathans exist and do get bigger than we might imagine.

i have a book named "eyelids in the morning" about crocodiles in lake rudolph, africa. if you can get it, look at the size of some of them! it even shows some of the remains of victims of croc attacks.