ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A local legend has passed away.
Rufus "Bubba" Stratton was an alligator trapper and firefighter in St. Augustine. He died Feb. 22.
Friends describe Stratton as a "man's man," "a lengend among the legends," a man who lived "a colorful life."
Stratton’s death has St. Augustine locals remembering his stories.
He worked at the St. Augustine Fire Department from the 1950s into the 1980s.
"It was a different era when he was working," St. Augustine Fire Chief Carlos Aviles said. "Fires were just huge back then and they’d get a lot of them."
Fires were no match for Stratton and neither were toothy gators.
St. Augustine Fire Captain James Von Bretzel said, "When my wife first met him, she asked, 'Hey Bubba, what's the closest call you had with a gator?' He was missing part of a finger. He said, 'this was a pretty close call!'" Von Bretzel showed his thumb and laughed.
Friends said Stratton was one of the first licensed alligator trackers in Florida.
"He was catching dinosaurs! They were huge," Von Bretzel said. "He filled a lot of the Alligator Farm’s main attraction."
According to a St. Augustine Alligator Farm Facebook post, Stratton brought large alligators to the attraction, that would have otherwise been killed because they were considered nuisance animals.
"When he talked about hunting alligators, he was respectful of the animal," St. Augustine Farm Reptile Curator Jim Darlington said.
Darlington met Stratton in the 1990s when the Alligator Farm’s biggest crocodile, Gomez, died. Stratton was brought in to remove the hide so the animal could be taxidermied and put on display.
Darlington said Stratton was "completely respectful of the animal and of us, who were heartbroken that we lost Gomek."
Even after retirement, Stratton still hung around the firehouse.
"He always come by the station. He loves to come by," Von Bretzel said.
St. Augustine Firefighter Rob Murphy said, "When I'd see his pickup truck roll into the bay here, I’d be one of the first guys to meet him, to just soak up his knowledge and stories."
Shaking Stratton's hand for the first time was memorable for Murphy.
"The first time I met him, he was 90 years old, and he crushed my hand," Murphy said. "He had a grip on him like he was a wrestler."
Stratton's fire buddies said, even though he was 92, he didn’t believe in going to the doctor. He thought Dawn dish soap could clean any wound and take care of many ailments.
"He was a piece of work," Murphy laughed.
Stratton was a man who took on danger and shared the stories and knowledge about it.
"He was a huge part of local history," Aviles said.