Gators in Clayton? (Raleigh: HOA, house, live in)

[southward bound]

Heard onthe news today - they had a picture of the critter - a couple in Clayton met up with a 5' gator. He's in a shelter now, to be relocated to the coast, but the report said that alligators are "not unknown" in Johntson county.

I've heard that they are in SC, and possibly in NC near the SC border, closer to the coast.

Where else in NC might one run into an alligator?

[MaimounaKande]

I've been told they are all along coastal NC (actually you can confirm this with a web search), but that they occasionally venture further inland. Apparently they have made their way to the outskirts of Raleigh a couple of times (!). Extremely rare for that to happen, but not impossible!!

[southward bound]

Another good reason to have a fenced yard, I guess. Wouldn't want my furfaces to become dinner.

That's only one of the reasons I won't live in FL.

[SALUKI_LOVER]

funny..when I first saw the gator reference I thought you were a Floridian moving to NC....

[PDXmom]

I've read some pretty humorous gator stories from Fla folks on this board. But the gators in NC are probably going to be more afraid of you than you are of them. I grew up in Eastern NC and my folks still live there. We take the boat out every summer looking for our favorite gator families. They are very skiddish and try to ignore human contact for the most part. My dad has a friend who owns a shrimp house who has a "pet" gator. It lives in the marsh by his place and he feeds the gator fish heads etc.

While I would not trust my kids around it... they might get a stick and try to poke the poor thing, thus provoking it. I don't think you will need a fence in Clayton to protect yourself from the gators. We did know a lady who lived on the water in ENC that lost some chickens to gators. So if you have chickens you might want to build a fence. But I bet your HOA will get your chickens before the gators do.

[Lizardlips]

Originally Posted by MaimounaKande

I've been told they are all along coastal NC (actually you can confirm this with a web search), but that they occasionally venture further inland. Apparently they have made their way to the outskirts of Raleigh a couple of times (!). Extremely rare for that to happen, but not impossible!!

Just curious. How do these gators get from the coast to Raleigh??? I know they cannot take a bus, so do they just pack a bag and hoof it to Raleigh??

Liz

[emanresu2]

There was an alligator in Falls lake north of Raleigh a few years ago and some redneck shot it. It was about 2ft long. They swim up the rivers from the coast to the Raleigh area occasionally, but they can't really survive the winters.

[ALT-X]

The gators that make it to Raleigh do it by traveling up the Neuse River. In addition to alligators being found around southeastern nc you can sometimes find them in northeastern nc (great dismal swamp area).

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by emanresu2

but they can't really survive the winters.

I'm not sold on this theory. They bury themselves in the mud in the swamps in Eastern NC when it's really cold and can survive. Not sure how long though. And the air temp in the triangle is not all that different than the air temp in ENC.

[autumngal]

Ok not funny,

It is true alligators can survive thru cold snaps by slowing their heart rates down, etc. Alligator farms make a fortune when the weather turns chilly and the gators do not have to be fed, BUT!!!!

The problem lies with not so much the cold. Rather with the temperatures going up and down, being somewhat unstable. That is what throws the little buggers off. So closer to the coast near the water it is "usually" not as severe of temperature changes. Soooo. they have a tendancy to stick around there more.