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Rare find: Wayward gator shows up in Atlanta

From Tristan Smith
CNN

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It wasn't what Nick Lawrimore was casting for when he went to his "secret fishing spot" on the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta, Georgia, but experts say he made a rare find anyway.

Lawrimore was getting ready to wade in about 11 a.m. Tuesday when he spotted an 8-foot alligator in the river, which is frequented by Atlanta-area nature lovers, fishermen and kayakers.

Lawrimore said the gator was about 5 feet away, swimming after a large carp. He said he rushed back to his car to tell his father, who came down to the riverbank to see the gator.

"The whole way there it was, 'Did I really see an alligator? Did I really see an alligator?' I was almost 100 percent positive," he said.

His father confirmed that, yes, it's an alligator. (Watch the gator basking in the river )

Adam Hammond, a biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, told CNN that alligators are almost never seen in Atlanta.

He surmised the gator may have been a pet that got too big and was dumped into the Chattahoochee, which meanders across metro Atlanta and through a series of parks. He also said someone may have brought it up from more southern, tropical areas and released it.

Hammond said alligators are normally shy and will stay away from humans, but people should not walk up to the reptile if they see it, and definitely not try to feed it.

A search for the gator was called off late Tuesday after storms swept through the area. Georgia Department of Natural Resources spokesman Ben Johnson said the hunt for the gator would resume Thursday or Friday once the media buzz and local spectator interest has calmed.

Lawrimore said he doesn't want to see the gator hurt in any way, but would feel safer if it was caught.

"I just want to see him go," he said. "I don't want to see him get killed or anything. At the same time, I don't want to be down here and have him grab one of my feet or legs when I'm in the water."

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