ONLY ON 3: 12-foot alligator removed from Greenfield Lake

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Green turtles and green algae are things you expect to see during a stroll along the shores of Greenfield Lake. Today, though, a 12-foot alligator estimated to be around 600 pounds gave visitors a sight they’ll never forget.

Experts say it’s not unusual for an alligator to be in the lake because it’s so close to the Cape Fear river, but a gator of this size is out of the ordinary and is very dangerous. They say alligators around six to eight feet are common for this area, but not a 12-foot gator.

Visitors say the reptile was on land and was heading toward people.

“He put up a fight. He didn’t put up a struggle. He put up a fight,” Elbert Turner, who watched the alligator wrangled, said. “He was fighting seriously trying to get loose. I’m pretty sure when they were trying to pull him up onto the bank and he was stretched out on his back he had a blood line right along his neck, right here. The rope got him.”

A wildlife removal service put the bull gator in a tube and took it to the district biologist.