Unexpected visitor: 8-foot alligator appears to knock on Leland woman’s door
LELAND, NC (WWAY) — A Leland woman received 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, a real estate agent living in Leland, said the encounter happened shortly after 1 a.m.
“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 captured images of the alligator resting on her doorstep before calling Leland police.
She said the alligator eventually began moving away from her porch.
“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 believes the alligator may have come from one of the many retention ponds in the Waterford community.
She said seeing alligators in the area is not unusual, although finding one at her front door was a surprise.
“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”
John Henry Harrelson with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said alligators travel more frequently than many people realize, especially at night.
“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.”
Love said the experience served as a reminder that alligators are part of the local environment.
“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.”
According to the Town of Leland, police worked with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to relocate the alligator to an undisclosed waterway.
