POST & COURIER (Charleston, S Carolina) 25 August 03 Sunday riddle: Why did the gator cross the road? (Kathy Stevens)
Mount Pleasant: Police weren't paid extra for a side job of alligator sitting Sunday night when a 6-foot reptile managed to stop traffic on Mathis Ferry Road while en route perhaps to a new home.
Concerned citizens called for help around 6 p.m. after spotting the gator in some bushes by their home near Wando High School. Officers found the gator in a hedgerow across from Mathis Ferry Road near the Interstate 526 overpass, said Lt. Jeff Scott of Mount Pleasant police.
A game of gator and cops ensued, with officers trying to persuade the reptile to head to a nearby pond on Whipple Road. The gator hunkered down near some bushes, budged a few yards and meandered across Mathis Ferry Road's two lanes, Scott said.
"He was just there on the sidewalk and we just felt we needed to stay with him," Scott said. "It was getting dark over there and we didn't want anybody jogging down the sidewalk getting surprised."
Within about two hours, the gator had changed its mind and made the two-lane trek back across the road before disappearing in the direction of the pond. Mount Pleasant police officers Matt Lambert and T.J. Favero believed their jobs were done, informed the Department of Natural Resources of the rogue gator and prepared to leave.
But no sooner had they returned to their cruisers than the gator returned, again heading southwest across Mathis Ferry Road. Officers alerted DNR and shut down traffic, but then lost sight of the gator near Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens, Scott said.
Sunday riddle: Why did the gator cross the road?