Alligator lunging at cars in North Carolina

WCNC-TV ^ | June 28, 2024 | Blair Shiff

[Red Badger]

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — Boiling Spring Lakes Fire Rescue made everyone giggle Friday when they posted about an adventure their chief and the Brunswick County Sheriff's deputies had overnight.

Around 1 a.m., Brunswick County deputies got a call asking for help with a strange traffic issue. It appears an alligator, which they thought looked about 12-feet long, was lying in the middle of the road, lunging at passing cars.

Since the gator was huge, Boiling Spring Lakes Fire Rescue was called in to help. The chief and a Quick Response Vehicle was sent to the scene.

"After a first attempt to walk this gentleman across the road failed, we turned to what we know best ... we flowed some water. With a gentle shower deployed to encourage a retreat, the gator finally decided he was done with civilization for the time being and finally moved on back into his more natural habitat," the post reads on Facebook.

No one, including the alligator, was injured in the encounter.

Alligators are common found in North Carolina's Coastal Plain, but North Carolina is the northern most area an alligator will typically be found, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The American alligator can reach up to 13-feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds. Females are typically smaller, measuring around 9-feet long and 200 pounds.

[TexasGator]

“Sometimes I want to know who walked alongside of the alligator to measure whether he was 10 feet, 11 feet, or 12 feet, because they didn’t capture this one. “

Compared him to road lane width.

[TexasGator]

See #19

[Vendome]

Steaks

Wallet

Briefcase

Couple pair of boots

Belts

[Red Badger]

When I was in the Marines at Camp Lejeune in the 70’s I saw an alligator in one of the many ponds on base. Many here didn’t believe me..................

[EinNYC]

A mouse which has been occupying my backyard and feeding on the spilled seed from my birdfeeder was at last caught and subdued yesterday. He had been terrorizing the birdfeeder for a few months now, seen scurrying from raised garden bed to raised garden bed. He was the best fed mouse in history. Well, he scurried in front of my landscape guy, who was armed with a garden hose yesterday. He was squirted out of hiding and then pummeled with the hose. He did not survive the encounter. At last, freedom from the terror of my backyard!

[laplata]

They should have called FJB to take care of that thing just like he did Corn Pop. No kidding, man.

[Enlightened1]

I wonder how far north Gators migrate?

[PAR35]

When I was in the Marines at Camp Lejeune in the 70’s I saw an alligator in one of the many ponds on base.

That alligator needs to call the lawyer and get some of those millions that the taxpayers are giving away to anyone that went on base there. $21 billion in free money available.

[DarrellZero]

Seems like a self-solving problem ...

[FamiliarFace]

Yeah, they were lucky he was in the right direction for that. My comment was more tongue in cheek. I know there are plenty of ways to get a good estimate.

[FamiliarFace]

I’m with you.

[FamiliarFace]

For us, it’s chipmunks, and there are too many to count. They are cute but a terrible menace.

[FamiliarFace]

If we put them into the Rio Grande, I bet one of our migration problems would lessen significantly.

[tflabo]

Where’s a bayou cajun when you need him? Turn that swamp dinosaur nuisance into alligator etouffee.

[Ezekiel]

It appears an alligator, which they thought looked about 12-feet long, was lying in the middle of the road, lunging at passing cars.

Movable speed bump bump!

[EinNYC]

Yes, chipmunks are very cute. What do they do to menace your yard?

[MtnClimber]

Min road lane width is 12 feet and he spanned a lane.

The road in front of my house is 9 ft per lane. I know several people that hunt alligators here in FL and have seen various lengths in the neighborhood of this one. They are usually 8-9 ft and 200 to 300 lbs. I have never seen a dead 12 ft alligator in person, but an alligator that size is in the range of 500 to 700 lbs.

This is a 12 ft alligator:

This 463-pound alligator was removed from a Florida highway after it was struck by a semi-truck

A, massive, absolutely gargantuan gator tried to cross a Florida highway earlier this month but met a tragic end – it was struck by a semi-truck and had to be put down. Tallahassee alligator trapper Broderick Vaughan said he received a call about a stunned alligator walking in circles on the highway near the state’s capital. He’s caught the creatures for over a decade, so he expected a standard removal job. But no. The 12-foot, 463-pound goliath he found was one of the largest he’d ever encountered, he told CNN. And it was badly injured. The alligator had collided with a semi-truck, which injured its snout and crushed its head on one side. Vaughan caught his snare pole around the animal’s neck, taped its mouth shut and wrestled it into the back of his truck and home to his facility.

[FamiliarFace]

They dig into my plants and uproot them, chew on wires, dig tunnels everywhere, gnaw through wood siding near the gas line, and find a way into my basement through ductwork. We have trapped several of them when they’re in our house.

I do have great photos of them from being my backyard, but I prefer they stay outside, even though they are so destructive.

[Hyman Roth]

I’m from New Bern area. The White River has lots of gator 🐊. They killed a 14 footer awhile back in Jacksonville. People just are amazed there in NC.

[FreedomPoster]

Yikes!

Yeah, no thanks.