30 August 2023 , 19:02
1190
0
A giant alligator this week seemingly wanted to get in on the deals at Dollar General as the creature startled patrons who were waiting for the store to open, reports say.
In a Facebook post by the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, a large alligator is seen waiting by the door under a Little Debbie snack poster early Tuesday morning.
“This little fella was patiently waiting for the Dollar General to open this morning!” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “The best deals in town are always DTR.”
The sheriff's office continued to joke about the gator online when it responded to its own post with another amusing take on the situation.
Gator sightings in Louisiana are common as the state contains more than a million of them (Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office)“For all you inquiring minds, Mr. Gator picked up his Little Debbie snacks, hopped in his truck and went fishing at the Civic Drive Fishing Pier in Port Sulphur," the office wrote. The police didn't indicate whether the gator was moved to another location.
Alligator spotted with jaws taped shut and struggling before being rescued
An alligator sighting in Louisiana, while strange outside a Dollar General, is all too common in the state as it and Florida have the largest gator populations in the country, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). The department said there are more than one million alligators in each state.
Gators are cold-blooded reptiles, so their body temperature is regulated by the surrounding weather. Oftentimes, an alligator is seen lying still in the sun to absorb the warmth from its rays. A gator may be found in a strange setting because it was trying to get warm or cool off.
LDWF authorizes hunters to remove gators deemed a nuisance, which has reduced alligator-human interactions (Getty Images)In April, a Louisiana driver was almost hysterical when he witnessed a large gator cross the street before disappearing into the night, according to the Science Times.
Nycholas Kennerson recorded an encounter with a large gator at about 4.45pm on his way home from Golden Nugget Casino in New Orleans. Using an expletive, Nycholas screams as the gator slowly made its way across the grass field, which was a few feet from his car.
"Look how big this b**ch is," Nycholas yells as his radio plays in the background. He eventually posted the video to Facebook where it received a lot of comments in the form of gifs depicting running individuals, which appear to be indications of what his Facebook friends would have done in the situation. Apparently other residents had seen the same gator near the casino.
LWF works to minimize these encounters in the state. The department authorized the hunting of what it calls "nuisance alligators" across the state, which has led to the removal of about 1,000 gators from Louisiana each year, according to Fox News.