Here’s one way to get your fix of animal life without having to switch on the TV: one father and son in South Carolina had an incredible experience when they nearly ran over an alligator with the car.
Video of the unexpected encounter has gone viral, and for good reason. While gator sightings are frequent this time of the year in the area because it’s mating season and males go out in search of females, this one was a close call. For the gator. Had this been a less experienced or considerate driver, the gator could have been killed.
The footage shows the 9-foot gator in the middle of the road, standing next to a bloody and bloated carcass. Daniel Martin, the dad who shot the video and was driving the car, says it was probably a fish, but word online is that it could have very well been a baby deer.
“Wow, that's a big alligator,” Martin is heard saying. “And there's a fish or something in the middle of the road. He's coming to eat it.”
He brakes the car to a stop to allow the gator time to fetch his dinner and get away with it. He and his son remain in the car and watch in wonder as it drags the carcass across the road and slips back into the water, to safety, leaving behind a trail of blood on the asphalt. They drive away only after they make sure the gator is in the water.
Martin tells Storyful that they were on their annual trip to the Short Stay recreation area and campsite in Moncks Corner, with the encounter taking place in Berkeley County, just north of Charleston. Sights of gator are quite frequent here during mating season. Martin estimates this particular gator was about 9 feet long.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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