Gator's visit surprises neighborhood

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Gator's visit surprises neighborhood

By David Reynolds,
Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 11:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 11:56 p.m.

t was a hot, dull Sunday afternoon when Kenneth Ganey, 20, pulled onto Butterfly Court in Wilmington to deliver a pepperoni pizza.

But when the driver with Brooklyn Pizza stepped from his car at 5:15 p.m., he wasn't the only thing moving.

An alligator 4 to 5 feet long hustled from the driveway and blocked the front steps of 300 Butterfly Court, Ganey said.

Instead of knocking, Ganey called his customer Brent Hairr and told him his pizza had arrived but he might not want to open the door. Hairr couldn't resist, and when he opened the door the young alligator moved off toward a neighbor's backyard, starting a short pursuit that would bring out close to a dozen neighbors and four deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office. The deputies wrestled the alligator into a Rubbermaid container and told neighbors they released the animal into the Cape Fear River, Hairr said.

Two neighbors, one who had lived there nine years, said they'd never seen an alligator in the community near Market Street. They said they suspected the animal likely came out of a drainage ditch.

Deputies told them they sometimes are called out for snakes but that wrestling an alligator was a first.

Still, Hairr said the deputies hatched a plan and solved the problem in less than 20 minutes without hurting the alligator.

"They didn't seem scared at all," said Jennifer Royal, who was watching television with Hairr when the pizza, alligator and deputies arrived.

Neighbors offered garden hoes and a shovel so deputies could keep the alligator at bay. "When I saw the guy come with the duct tape, I couldn't believe they were going to do this," Royal said.

Deputies used the garden tools to hold the alligator's mouth shut while another grabbed the thrashing reptile, Hairr said. Deputies taped its mouth shut, then put the alligator in a 3-foot-long container, allowing the tail to curl so the reptile would fit.

Ganey, who has been delivering pizzas for a year, called his Sunday afternoon delivery a unique experience.

"I've seen deer and raccoons," Ganey said. "But an alligator, that was strange."

David Reynolds: 343-2075

dave.reynolds@starnewsonline.com