Huge alligator found in Arkansas rice field after rain causes rivers to overflow
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An alligator estimated to be 9-feet in length was displaced after heavy rain in the Grubbs, Arkansas, area caused nearby rivers to overflow.
Local resident Frank Pierce told KAIT-8 that he and his family spotted the large reptile “laying out in the field” as they were on their way to go fishing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Later, authorities with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office were called. Sheriff David Lucas said officials at first thought the call was a joke.
“When we first got the call, we thought well this is some kind of prank or a log or something because you just don’t see gators this far north,” he told the news station.
But he would soon find out it was no hoax.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“[I] looked out in the field and saw it sitting there and I thought, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do,’” he added.
Mark Barbee, a wildlife biologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, told KAIT-8 why the gator found its way to such an unusual place, citing heavy rainfall as a likely reason.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“What’s happened is with all the recent rainfall, it’s just displaced him out of the river system is what’s happening," he said.
A second gator, too, was also reportedly found in the same area.