Homeowners say farewell to an unwanted neighbor

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– Some New Hanover County homeowners are happy to say goodbye to one of their neighbors.

That is a nine foot alligator.

Odgen resident Mike Melnotte snapped some photos while Wildlife Removal Services took the alligator from the Brittany Lakes Subdivision. The HOA says this is the first alligator the neighborhood has seen in 20 years.

Melnotte says they waited a few weeks to see if it would just go away, but he says that did not work. Saturday Jimmy English with Wildlife Removal Service took the alligator away.

“Jimmy from the animal control company could not have been more calm and professional,” Melnotte said. “He did a great job with his crew and it looked like the gator was cooperating for the most part. I’m glad he’s gone.”

English says the alligator should have been about 11 feet long, but he was bitten by another alligator when he was younger and did not fully grow.

He says they took the alligator to a release site at the Holly Shelter Game Reserve, but he says he is not sure where the alligator came from. English says it could have been a number of surrounding creeks.