Tiny terror emerges on South Carolina beach as crowd watches cautiously, video shows
A tiny terror took a stroll on the sand as beachgoers watched cautiously in South Carolina.
Video posted Tuesday shows a baby alligator taking a walk near the surf in Pawleys Island. People are seen backing away as the young animal approaches.
The Pawleys Island Police Department in a Twitter post said the footage depicted an “unusual visitor.” The video, which has been obtained by Storyful, had almost 5,000 views as of Wednesday morning.
American alligators are found in the South and can grow longer than 13 feet, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources said on its website.
If you spot one of the reptiles, it’s recommended to stay away and avoid contact, according to the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory at the University of Georgia. They are typically found “in swampy areas, rivers, streams, lakes and ponds,” wildlife experts say.
It’s not the first time an alligator has made its way to the waterfront.
They recently have been spotted on Kiawah Island as the coronavirus pandemic keeps people inside, McClatchy News reported.
“While alligators can tolerate salt water for a few hours or even days, they are primarily freshwater animals,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on its website.
After its trip to the beach, the Pawleys Island reptile “was wrangled up by our resident ‘Gator Lady,’ ” police wrote on Twitter. The healthy animal was expected to be released in a “natural habitat,” according to the post.
Pawleys Island is on the coast and roughly 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Tiny terror emerges on South Carolina beach as crowd watches cautiously, video shows."
