Gator refuses to leave Georgia family’s pond — until a raw chicken was brought out
A raw chicken was all it took to lure a stubborn, unwelcome alligator out of its home in a Georgia pond.
The gator had taken up residence in the pond on “newly purchased property” in Bibb County. The homeowners have small children and were worried about it lurking around, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.
But the gator “refused to come out of the water,” the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.
It finally gave in, however, when an animal enforcement officer showed up with a snack.
The officer used the chicken to lure the gator into a dog trap, the sheriff’s office said. It was then released “unharmed and away from humans” to property belonging to a doctor of animal physiology.
Georgia is home to between 200,000 and 250,000 alligators, which are mostly found “along and south of the fall line (which roughly traverses the cities of Columbus, Macon and Augusta),” according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division.
Alligator attacks on humans are rare, wildlife officials said. But those who need wildlife, including gators, removed from their property can “hire a nuisance wildlife control operator.”
