These Oklahoma Lakes Are Rumored To Have Alligators

With the recent sighting of an Oklahoma alligator sunning itself pretty far from the normal gator territory, a conversation sparked up online about the wild gators that are apparently living in lakes all across the state.

Now there is a difference between a tall tale and there being at least a little bit of truth to every story, and while you wouldn't believe most of these, there have been gators randomly showing up in several Oklahoma lakes before.

Let's walk down the list.

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Grand Lake Gators.

This is probably the most widely circulated rumor on this particular topic in the state. Wild and elusive alligators along the banks of Grand Lake 'O the Cherokee's.

While it makes for some really good campfire stories, this one got such traction over the years that the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and officials at Grand Lake actually came together to put out a report dispelling the rumors.

It's literally on the website.

The overall consensus is the rumor started either out of the blue based entirely on a lie - giving real fun uncle storytelling vibes here - or perhaps someone mistook a particularly large alligator gar (fish that looks enough like an alligator) for a big old swamp puppy.

Other gator stories.

Depending on where you live and what your local lake happens to be, there's likely a gator story about it somewhere in the local urban legends.

After a deep search of the web, there have been alligators reported at:

• Keystone Lake
• Hefner Lake
• Eufala Lake
• Kaw Lake
• Canton Lake
• Lake Lawtonka
• Lake Ellsworth
• Altus-Luggert Lake
• Lake Ponca City
• Sooner Lake
• Boomer Lake
• Lake Carl Blackwell
• and the list literally goes on and on.

Of all of the wild urban lake legends, only one has proven to be true.

Alligators at Claremore Lake.

In May of 2022, calls came in about a reported alligator in Claremore Lake (NE of Tulsa). As you can imagine, nobody believed the reports for the first couple of calls, but as they logged the information, state officials were sort of forced to go take a look.

As it turned out, a huge nearly-ten-foot gator was found.

The tallest tale of them all turned out to be true.

Normally, when reports of alligators in local bodies of water are investigated, it's usually the result of someone releasing a pet into the wild. They're usually small, within one to three feet in length, and the irresponsible owners are never tracked down.

There is no way the Claremore alligator was a released pet. More than likely a bull-gator on the prowl to mate who happened to travel very far from Red Slough down in Southeast Oklahoma.

Lake Monsters in Oklahoma.

Still, reports of lake monsters persist.

The infamous Oklahoma Octopus is a favorite on that side of the state.

Then there's the true tale, and only example, of a shark found in an Oklahoma lake.