Keeping a sharp lookout for unusual activity took an interesting turn this weekend for Rowan County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Crews when, while driving along Long Ferry Road near the Yadkin River, he spotted a young alligator on the roadway.

According to Chief Deputy Jason Owens, Crews was in the area of Exit 81 off Interstate 85 when he spotted the animal. Crews radioed for assistance, and he and other deputies managed to grab the animal and wrap duct tape around its mouth to secure it without harming it.

They then called for Wildlife Control, who at first thought perhaps it was a different animal.

“When I got the call, I said ‘what?,'” said Lt. Scott Strickland of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. He said the alligator is about 4 feet long, indicating it would probably be between four and five years old, “but if it’s been in captivity, it could be older.” He said they grow to about three feet in their first year, then grow about an inch every year after.

The gator was taken to a biologist for evaluation, and then will likely be transferred to a wildlife rehab where it can safely live out its days.

“I’m 99 percent sure this was somebody’s pet,” said Strickland, pointing out that the animal was “very docile, didn’t fight, we didn’t have to grab his arms or anything, he was not afraid of humans at all.” He said the gator likely went onto the roadway to get warm.

Strickland said North Carolina is the northernmost part of the American alligator’s range, and that the animal did not get here naturally. They are not native to our area and are not naturally going to show up in Yadkin River.

It is illegal to own an alligator in North Carolina, and the species is a protected one here as well. Strickland said there are extremely limited permits allowing for hunting for population control, but those are few and far between and for strictly limited times.

“This was definitely a one-off,” he said. “You won’t encounter them swimming in High Rock Lake. You also shouldn’t have one as a pet, or even feed one in the wild. Because once they learn that humans are a source of food, they will see a human and go toward them, thinking they have something to feed them. But their brains don’t know the difference between a hand and food.” A person can end up getting hurt in that case, and then the animal has to be euthanized.

“It’s not good for either people or the alligators, but the animals are really the ones who lose the most,” he said.

It is doubtful, he said, that anyone will come forward to claim the animal, because they will be charged with illegal possession.

“He did look healthy, I will say that,” said Strickland.