Alligators in the mountains? One was just caught in east Tennessee farm pond

Alligators do not live in the Tennessee mountains, yet that’s exactly where one was captured, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

A young alligator — around 3 feet — was found in a Bradley County farm pond, east of Chattanooga, the agency reported in a Facebook post.

Bradley County is along the Appalachian Mountains chain, 100 miles southwest of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“NO, Bradley County isn’t in the alligator’s historic range,” wildlife officials wrote in the post.

In fact, all of Tennessee isn’t part of the historic range of alligators, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

So how did it get there?

The state didn’t offer a guess, but social media quickly stepped in with answers. The post has gotten more than 1,000 reactions, shares and comments within an hour, including a lot of arguing. (A bunch also made jokes about the photo showing the gator’s front limbs cuffed “behind its back like it’s under arrest.”)

A sensible guess would be someone released a pet that got too big. But Tennesseans have been anxious about alligators since a 7-footer was confirmed living at the opposite end of the state back in 2018.

“Climate changing. (They’re) coming north. I expect the pythons to b(e) along soon,” John Atha wrote on the state’s Facebook page.

“Where are the 20 to 50 siblings?” Jason W. Thompson asked.

“Probably some people that don’t agree with climate change on here and that is ok,” Bj Anderson said. “But if things keep going with hotter summers and little to no winter you will see different animals moving to climate that works for them.”

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency hasn’t mentioned global warming, but it says there have been “several confirmed sightings of alligators in Southwest Tennessee.” It predicts more will show up in that area and advises people to “learn to coexist” with them.

“Alligators are naturally expanding their range into Tennessee from the southern border states,” the agency said in a 2018 news release.

“Alligators can survive Tennessee winters by going into a hibernation-like dormancy called brumation. They can withstand periods of ice by sticking their snout out of the water before it freezes which allows them to continue breathing.”

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Alligators in the mountains? One was just caught in east Tennessee farm pond."