A routine law enforcement training exercise turned into anything but Tuesday morning in Hall County when a sheriff’s deputy encountered a large alligator.
The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. on March 5 around a pond off Allen Creek Road, says the Hall County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO). The deputy was laying a track for a K9 team when he heard a hissing sound and saw the alligator with its mouth open. The alligator, estimated to be between 7 and 8 feet long, charged at the deputy, who was able to run up an embankment and evade the animal. The deputy was not injured.
A sheriff’s office drone operator returned to the pond on Wednesday, March 6, and captured images of the alligator.
The sheriff’s office notified the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) about the incident.
The pond is not typically accessible to the public, but HCSO officials are encouraging people to take precautions around the water in the area, including the stream that feeds the pond located southeast of Gainesville.
As a result of this sighting, the sheriff’s office says it will install warning signs cautioning the public about alligators, snakes, and other wildlife that may pose a danger to the public.
Alligators are primarily freshwater animals. Approximately a quarter million of them live in Georgia. However, they typically live south of a fall line that runs through Columbus, Macon, and Augusta. According to DNR, there is no evidence that alligator populations reproduce north of the fall line, and any found in these areas have probably been relocated there by humans.
