Officials relocate 9 foot gator from Georgia road

ST. MARYS, Ga. — A gator more than 9 feet long, weighing close to 300 pounds, was caught off the side of the road in St. Marys.

St Marys police officer Ian Dent said he was on a routine patrol Tuesday afternoon when he got a call about a gator on the side of Kings Bay Road.

"I stopped and said, ‘yep there’s a gator’ and he was just sitting along the side of the road," Dent said.

Dent said he immediately called for assistance and Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources sent out a ranger.

The ranger had to lasso the alligator to tire it out before attempting to use duct tape on its mouth.

“Then the alligator started spinning and threw him off," Dent said.

That’s when other measures were taken with flex cuffs, which are essentially giant zip ties.

"We actually tied his hands behind his back and his legs as well," Dent said.

The wrangling took about 15 minutes before the gator was hauled into the ranger’s truck and brought to its new home in the Altamaha River.

Once they were able to measure it, Dent said the gator was 9 feet and 7 inches long.

The ranger also estimated that the gator is 25 years old.

Trending on ActionNewsJax.com:

• Parent suing Duval schools over transgender bathroom use policy
• Copperhead bites employee in Lowe's gardening department
• Florida school district will not follow White House directive on transgender bathroom use
• 18 arrested in 'Operation Riptide'
• Mother marches through Target decrying retailer's bathroom policy

Cox Media Group