UGA senior spots alligator in ‘too close for comfort’ encounter not far from campus

ATHENS, Ga. — A UGA student walking a trail near her apartment says it was “way too close for comfort” when she spotted an alligator.

UGA senior Alexa Leahy likes to walk what’s known as the Firefly Trail in Athens.

It’s not far from campus along the Oconee River.

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Last Friday she was surprised by something moving in the water.

“I thought it was a log when I first saw it. But I got a closer look,” Leahy said.

The biology major has spent a lot of time in Florida and coastal Carolina and knows an alligator when she sees one.

“How big do you think it was?” Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen asked.

“I don’t know for sure. Definitely bigger than 6 or 7 feet. It looked pretty big to me,” Leahy said.

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It’s a rare sighting this far north of what is known as Georgia’s Fall Line, what scientists say was the prehistoric shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

Leahy says she has heard some of her professors suggest that global warming could bring a gator this far, or maybe somebody once had a one-footer in their terrarium and let it loose when it got too big.

Either way, Leahy says it was a little too close for comfort.

“Definitely. I’m going to try and stay a little farther away from the water now,” Leahy said.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is looking into it.

You’re advised to keep your distance if you see the gator and don’t throw it any food.

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