Florida’s Ricky Sánchez got more than he bargained for last week while fishing at Bristol Township’s Magnolia Lake after nearly catching a small alligator on his line, writes Beatrice Forman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Sánchez posted two videos of the encounter which have gone viral.
“I swear to you, I got a … alligator. … No way bro. A baby gator,” he is heard saying in the first video.
However, the animal managed to break the line and escaped.
Bristol Township’s police department confirmed the sighting the same evening and advised residents to avoid the creek for the time being.
However, the nameless alligator was captured later that day by Kyle Asplundh, a Florida-based crocodile rescuer who was staying with family in New Hope at the time. As soon as he heard about the alligator, he headed out to track it down.
“I was able to quickly put eyes on the animal, but it was rather shy due to several other individuals in the location,” Asplundh said. “The alligator retreated to a thick patch of lilies which actually worked out in my favor to sneak up on him.”
Read more about the unexpected alligator sighting at Magnolia Lake in Bristol and the successful capture by a visiting crocodile expert in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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