12-foot alligator lunging at cars on NC road removed with unusual tactic, photos show
A large alligator was found lying across a North Carolina highway in the dark, and Brunswick County sheriff’s deputies took the unusual step of calling firefighters when all else failed, officials say.
What followed was equal parts innovation and desperation.
Instead of trying to wrestling the gator into submission with catch poles and ropes, the Boiling Spring Lakes fire department stood in the 3000 block of River Road and sprayed it with a high-powered water hose.
The trick worked.
“At roughly 1 a.m. Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office ... requested assistance to mitigate a bit of a traffic issue. This angry interloper was laying in the middle of the road and would lunge at passing motorists,” Boiling Spring Lakes Fire Rescue wrote in a Friday, June 28, Facebook post.
“Deciding that a 12-foot dragon was a bit outside what they could handle solo, they requested our assistance. ... 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.”
The alligator eventually disappeared into the neighboring wilderness, officials said.
Boiling Spring Lakes, about a 150-mile drive southeast from Raleigh, is native turf for alligators, which can reach 13 feet and 500 pounds in North Carolina.
The large reptiles pose a threat when they wander into traffic and darkness only added to the dangers in this case, officials said.
“Getting him out of the road likely saved his life and the lives of those traveling along the dark roadway!” the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
The firefighters’ unusual approach to removing the gator has gotten praise and laughs on social media, including some who accused the department of “water boarding the poor alligator.”
“It’s his road through his swamp. We’re the trespassers,” one commenter wrote.
This story was originally published June 28, 2024 at 12:08 PM with the headline "12-foot alligator lunging at cars on NC road removed with unusual tactic, photos show."