Purestock/Thinkstock(ST. HELENA, S.C.) — South Carolina’s Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort had a surprise visitor to its golf course this week: a 12-foot-long American alligator.
Jessica Miller, the head naturalist at the Fripp Island property, posted a Facebook video of the menacing reptile on Tuesday.
Even though the gator had a “small crowd of humans” watching him, he was unphased. “He paid us no mind and had only his next pond in his sights,” Miller wrote.
“We measured a spot in the grass where this big male laid down, and he measured just short of 12 feet,” she added.
Miller did have some words of caution for anyone who encounters such a beast. “If you ever see a gator traveling out of water, stay back and let him continue his journey,” she wrote.
Every pond in the area has a sign warning that alligators are present, and locals are well-educated about how to interact with the creatures.
“We stress to people to give alligators their space and never to feed them,” Miller told ABC affiliate WSOC-TV. “And because people respect these rules and respect the gators, we can co-exist.”
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