Georgia biologists peeked in a hole and saw this instead of the animal they expected
Last month, Georgia biologists were given quite the shock when inspecting gopher tortoise holes.
“Imagine getting down on your belly to look down a gopher tortoise hole and instead seeing a 4 1/2 ft alligator smiling back at you... because that’s exactly what happened to our biologists,” said the Wildlife Resources Division of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a Facebook post.
According to the post, the biologists have found a gator in a gopher hole for the last three years in Georgia (around Tattnall County). Since the gator was found in the same hole two years in a row and a nearby one in 2021, the biologists think it is the same gator hanging around.
“We plan to check the tortoise burrow this summer to see if gophers are crawling in when the gator is gone. It’s still a work in progress in certain respects to fully understand what’s going on with this burrow, and with this gator,” said the DNR.
Since there are no wetlands around this particular burrow, the biologists say they are almost certain that the alligator must have a strong memory of where to go and how to get back.
So, even if you find yourself in dry terrain, watch out for Georgia’s unpredictable gators.
