Five-Foot Woman Kills 13-Foot Alligator

Mary Ellen Mara-Christian is only five feet, five inches tall, weighing in at 115 pounds. She's looks small, but this week she proved she can take on a lot.

Mara-Christian killed a 13-foot, six-inch, 1,025-pound alligator during South Carolina's alligator hunting season.

How did she do it?

In an exclusive interview on "The Early Show on Saturday Morning," Mara-Christian explained she was out on a boat on Lake Moultrie with her husband and a few friends when she hooked the alligator with her heavy-duty fishing pole.

"We stuck him with a harpoon," she said. "We had two lines on him, we got him with a harpoon."

Mara-Christian said they had no idea how big the gator was. She said others estimated the gator was 10 feet long; it turned out to be three feet longer.

"I had no idea he was that big," she said.

But how did they reel him in?

"We didn't get him on the boat," Mara-Christian said. "Once we got him settled down, and we were able to tie him to the side of the boat, and we were able to dispatch him, and when the whole fight was over - after we think was at least a couple of hours - we just came into the boat ramp and he was tied up next to the boat."

Mara-Christian's husband Mark Christian told "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Betty Nguyen he helped out in the epic battle.

"It was the tug-of-war of a lifetime," he said.

Mara-Christian said other friends also assisted in the effort.

"What was really neat was the experience itself was that there was three of us, we all had a task at hand, we were all holding on to the ropes, she said. "I mean, that's like a truck under the water. And you're just holding on with all your might."

Mara-Christian added, "So really, I know I had the (hunting) tag, but you can't possibly do that by yourself."

Nguyen remarked, "You've got a lot of alligator meat to figure out what to do with now."

Mara-Christian said, "Yes, we do! Yes, we do!"