LEDGER-ENQUIRER (Columbus, Georgia) 19 May 03 No croc: Gators in Alabama - Floods may have flushed gators into Phenix City, Lee County (Erin Simpson)
Officer Mark Jolly and some local residents had a weird day Sunday.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officer was called to two scenes in the area to catch alligators.
Jolly, who works in the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, said residents near the BP station off of U.S. 431 called to report an alligator around 12:30 p.m.
"They had an alligator they found in a small drainage ditch," he said. It was the first he could remember actually being inside the Phenix City limits. The gator was 5 feet, 1 1/2 inches long, he said.
"The flood waters got them stirred up, plus this is the time of year for their rut," Jolly said.
The next call, around 2 p.m., came from residents on Lee Road 179, just north of Crawford.
Some children playing in their yard told their father there was an alligator, Jolly said. The father then shot the 8-foot, 4 1/2-inch alligator a couple of times. It later died.
Near the house was a "very small trickle of a creek," he said. "To have one that large in a small area is very uncommon... . To have one in Phenix City proper was very strange."
The gator found on U.S. 431 was released into the Chattahoochee in the southern part of the county, he said.
If you see a gator in your yard, call the local sheriff's department, Jolly said. "Leave them alone. They're not aggressive. If you'll leave them alone, we'll be there."
No croc: Gators in Alabama