A man caught a huge alligator and later discovered that it had eaten an ancient artefact that had been undiscovered for 6,000 years.
A hunter captured the massive 13ft beast which weighed a whopping 53 stone (750lb), and took it to Shane Smith who processed it with fellow hunter John Hamilton.
The pair then dissected the alligator, that was caught in Mississippi, and in its stomach they found an ancient arrowhead and plummet, as the Daily Star reports.
Initially, they thought maybe the alligator had been shot with the arrow but then they realised it was far too old, and a local geologist was able to deduce that it was used by Native Americans around 6,000 years ago.
What do you think about the find from the alligator's stomach? Let us know in the comments
Shane’s processing plant, Red Antler Processing, wrote on Facebook : “We have been cutting into a few big gators to see what was in their stomach.
“Everyone so far has had something cool in it.
“The 13ft 5in gator brought in by John Hamilton today, produced the shock of the year!”
Historians say the broken arrowhead and plummet are types of fishing weights used by Native Americans during the Archaic Period.
Alongside the ancient findings, the stomach was home to fish bones, feathers, balls of hair and stinky bile liquid.
For more of the news you care about, straight to your inbox, sign up for one of our daily newsletters here.
"At first, I thought 'I'm not posting this on Facebook,' because no one will believe it," Shane told the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.
But he soon changed his mind and realised that the find was "too cool not to post."
He continued: “We joked about it and said I'm probably the only person on Earth to pull an arrowhead out of an alligator's stomach.”
Shane reckons the animal ate the objects to try and aid digestion, as stones can break up hard bits – like bone – in the alligators belly.
But it isn’t the only odd finding hunters in America have discovered inside the swamp-beast.
Earlier this year, a different processing plant found five undigested dog collars inside an alligator, alongside a spark plug and several turtle shells.
Do you have a story to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Get in touch via yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
