'We were only steps away from stepping on it': Gator spotted on Garden City beach

Mandy Schraider Daly was walking along a Garden City Beach with her boyfriend last week when the couple stumbled across an unexpected sight: an alligator sitting in the sand.

"We were looking down at shells and luckily my boyfriend saw it as we were only steps away from stepping on it," Daly said.

The gator was spotted in front of the Horizon East Condominium building around 8 p.m. Thursday.

"I had seen an article last year or the year before and saw that someone had called 911 so I called to ensure nobody would get hurt and the gator can be relocated to a safe place," she said.

The alligator was caught by Russell Cavender, also known as The Snake Chaser. Cavender said the gator was smaller than three feet long, and that the capture was simple.

Cavender, who responds to two to four gators on the beach a year, said Thursday's spotting was most likely due to a large amount of rain.

"It's just your typical beach gator," Cavender said. "He was kind of tired."

Last year, a seven-foot-long alligator was spotted on the beach in Pawleys Island, and was caught by Pawleys Island's 'Gator Lady,' Rachel Lankford.

This story was originally published June 4, 2018 at 12:22 PM with the headline "'We were only steps away from stepping on it': Gator spotted on Garden City beach."