South Carolina family gets Easter surprise with 9-foot gator

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File Photo Thinkstock(MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.) — Many people expect to find sweet treats of chocolate and jellybeans on Easter morning, but one family in South Carolina woke up to a much different surprise.

Peter Cottontail didn’t coming knocking on the door of Steve and Susie Polston’s back porch — instead, it was a 9-foot alligator.

Describing the noise that first drew her from bed, Susie Polston told ABC station WCIV, “It sounded like aluminum rubbing up against aluminum.”

One glass door was all that separated Susie and her husband Steve from the large reptile.

According to the Polstons, the intruding gator broke through a locked door before settling among patio furniture on their porch.

“We were in disbelief that he actually made his way up the stairs, because we didn’t know alligators would climb stairs,” Susie said.

Responding wildlife specialists spent hours unsuccessfully trying to move the alligator into outdoor territory.

Deemed too much of a threat to handle by the South Carolina Depart of Natural Resources, the alligator was eventually killed.

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