Folks, it’s real! We’ve always been told that alligators can’t withstand a winter as far north as metro Atlanta, but we have photographic evidence to the contrary!
The gator pictured here was photographed in early March of this year in Cochran Shoals Park, close to highway 285 and Interstate 75 Parkway. That water he’s wading in is the Chattahoochee River! He is 8-10 feet long and is most likely the same gator that was spotted near the riverside park in 2013.
Wildlife specialists say that if you leave the gator alone, he will pay you the same courtesy. All the same, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has plans to trap the fellow and safely transport him to a habitat that is safer for him- and for us.
