Alligator spotted in Lake Lanier

GAINESVILLE - Never smile at a crocodile...or an alligator for that matter, especially if you're in the Flat Creek area of Lake Lanier.

That's where Scott Frazier, a Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist, said an alligator has been spotted and captured on camera about 10 days ago.

"It could be some happenstance migration that brought this alligator to the lake," Frazier said. "It's equally as likely if not more so that somebody had something to do with it."

He said it is possible that a person picked up the gator at another location and released it into Lake Lanier.

Frazier said alligators usually aren't found north of Atlanta.

He said this gator is 3- to 4-feet long, and he doesn't think it poses a threat to recreational users of the lake.

Frazier said D.N.R. rangers have been out to the Flat Creek location three times already to look for the alligator, and he hopes they find him soon.

"We expect if we had a cold winter that this animal would suffer," he said.

Frazier said he'd hate to see the animal struggle outside its natural habitat, so he advises the public to leave alligators where they belong in the future.