A giant alligator that stalked onto Myakka Pines Golf Club in Englewood, Florida, may have startled golfers but the photos the club took and posted on Facebook went viral (it's the first photo in this set), due to many folks who were stubbornly in disbelief, figuring that the humongous beast must be a Photoshop job and couldn't possibly be real. But we here in Florida know what it's like to live among the gators, and they make their way into our homes, our theme parks and for the most tolerant Floridians, into our hearts. Sometimes they hurt us, and sometimes, as you'll see in some of the vintage photos here, we hunt them them. In this collection, you'll see how alligators and humans have learned to coexist in Florida over the past 100-plus years.

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21 vintage shots of Orlando’s Gatorland attraction

| Photos by State Archives of Florida/Florida Memory