'Looks like it came out of Jurassic Park'

Charles Helms was able to get a video of a dinosaur-like alligator casually strolling across the green. Photo Facebook

Golfers in Palmetto, Florida, could be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled off the course and into Jurassic Park at the weekend.

While playing a typical Sunday game at Buffalo Creek Golf Course, Charles Helms was able to get a video of a monster alligator casually strolling across the course.

The dinosaur-like gator looked even bigger when another man came into the frame to take a picture - but apparently he is quite a regular sight in the area.

'People people have heard that he is out here and that is all they want to see so they will bring spectators to ride so somebody can get a picture,' golf course employee Wendy Schofield told News 3.

'He doesn't bother anybody and they don't bother him, he's like a mascot for the course, which is owned by Manatee County.'

'He has been here for a very, very long time, he's not new at all.
'There have been guesses that he's 15 to 16 feet long.
'The word has spread that this is a great place to come and play. He is the highlight, but we are worth the price too.'

As one Facebook user commented: 'It looks like it came out of Jurassic Park!'

If the estimations of the gator's size are close to correct, this one could make the history books.

The biggest alligator ever recorded in Florida was 14 feet long and 780 pounds.

Meanwhile in South Florida police were called to a gruesome scene: a pair of alligators eating a human body.

The Sun Sentinel reported that Davie Police Captain Dale Engle said the body was found on Monday in Southwest Ranches, about 20 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, appears to have been at the location for a long time.

Engle says officers were able to scare the alligators away from the body but the two lingered as officers tried to recover the body.

He said the cause of death and whether the body is a man or woman were both unknown.

Engle said a dive team would attempt to recover the body Monday evening.