Knock, knock! 8-foot alligator makes surprise visit to Leland woman’s front porch
LELAND, NC (WWAY) — A Leland woman got an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night when an 8-foot alligator showed up on her front porch and appeared to knock on her door.
Rasa Love said it was a quiet night at her home on Spring Glen Court in the Waterford community until shortly after 1 a.m., when she heard a loud noise outside.
“We heard this loud thud and wasn’t sure exactly where it came from. My dog started barking so I went to the front door. And I slept on the light switch and I opened the door and I looked down and there was a very large alligator with his head resting on the doormat. And then I quickly slammed the door,” Love said.
Love, a real estate agent, captured images of the massive reptile resting on her doorstep.
Leland police were called to the home after the unexpected encounter.
“I guess he got tired of everyone shining flashlights on him, and he made his way back through the front bushes and down the side yard. And at that point he was sort of there,” Love said.
While finding an alligator at her front door was a surprise, Love said seeing the reptiles around the neighborhood is not unusual.
She believes alligators inhabit many of the retention ponds throughout Waterford.
“I have seen them on people’s, you know, backyards. That go up to the canals. It’s not it’s not an unusual thing. I mean, we do live among them and they live among us,” Love said.
John Henry Harrelson with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said alligators are more mobile than many people realize, particularly after dark.
“I don’t think people realize just how much alligators move. Most of the time, that movement is at night. When we’re not out,” Harrelson said.
Love said the experience was a reminder that alligators don’t spend all their time in the water.
“They are nocturnal they. They live around quite a bit on land, not just in the water, so. I think that’s, uh, interesting. He found my house,” Love said.
Despite the startling encounter, Love said she hopes the experience raises awareness about living alongside wildlife rather than creating fear.
“I mean, that’s one of the beautiful things about living here is that we do get to see some pretty amazing wildlife. And I don’t want to vilify this at all. I do want to bring people’s attention to that they do live here and they can be dangerous, but it’s also not a reason to kill them or do harm to them,” Love said.
According to the Town of Leland, the Leland Police Department worked with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to relocate the alligator to an undisclosed waterway.
