The alligator gar's two rows of teeth make it look like a primary candidate for an extreme makeover. But scientific research and first hand reports tell us their presence promotes healthy sport fish populations.

If we had our way, we humans would ship all the alligator gar off to Los Angeles for extreme makeovers so they could look like large-mouth bass and taste like crappie. But in this case, this less than attractive creature might not need that makeover. It could be that we need to adjust our perspective.

Because of its affiliation with the alligator and our human inclination to judge a book by its cover there's much confusion about the eating habits of alligator gar. Yes, they're ugly. Yes, they have two rows of teeth. However, the myth that alligator gar wipe out whole populations of sport fish is one that science and first-hand reports have proved false.

The pertinent fact here is that alligator gar are affiliated in many states with locations that are known for great sport fishing.

Lifelong Puxico resident and Duck Creek CA angler of many years, Doug Siler, was interviewed about alligator gar in 2006, when the restocking program at the Mingo National Wildlife Refuge near Puxico first began. Siler said he used to judge alligator gar by their cover, but science has shown him the truth.

"Their benefit to game fish is higher than any cost," Siler said. "Education about Alligator gar has changed my thinking. If people think like I used to -- I say come out and see for yourself what happens."

John Standard, of Poplar Bluff, said in the same year as Siler's interview that he witnessed positive sport fishing effects of having a healthy alligator gar population half a century ago.

"Back on the Black River in Arkansas in the 1950's any summer afternoon you'd see 10-12 gar in a walk and some of the best bass fishing in the same stretch," Standard said. "There were 2-3 ½ pound Kentucky (aka spotted) bass."

Alligator Gar are opportunistic feeders with most studies indicating that they are mainly scavengers. What they ultimately eat greatly depends on the habitat they occupy. Louisiana and Texas studies found they ate larger sized blue crabs, shad, drum, and buffalo. In Arkansas a study was performed just below a chicken processing plant. The processors were dumping the carcasses in a stream behind the plant. The alligator gar in that study were eating mostly chicken carcasses. Fishermen in the southern states have also found alligator gar feeding around fish cleaning stations.

MDC's Southeast Region's Fisheries Supervisor, biologist Chris Kennedy, conducted his own study where he tracked alligator gar and pumped their stomachs to see what they were eating. He found they were eating invertebrates (insects and worms) and acting as scavengers by cleaning up dead carcasses.

This doesn't mean they won't occasionally eat bass or crappie, but these are rarely found in an alligator gar's regular diet. Research has indicated they prefer large non-game species within fish communities (8" -- 14" shad, drum, buffalo, and carp). This diet choice indirectly causes these species to reproduce smaller individuals that will provide food for the smaller sport fish, meaning that over time the crappie and bass populations within Mingo will improve. More prey available for sport fish, means more, healthier and larger sport fish.

I don't sit and look at alligator gar very often, so their aesthetic value doesn't matter a whole lot to me. What does matter to me, though, is if my six-year-old can happily bring home a good catch when we take him fishing. The fact that alligator gar play a role in promoting healthy, large sport fish tells me this book might be real pretty on the inside.