‘Big boy on the loose’: Watch a large alligator lunge at cops on a Florida roadside
Alligators aren’t in lockdown. Alligators don’t know what coronavirus is. They’re out, running free, blissfully unaware of a pandemic, and doing what comes naturally, looking for prey.
A particularly large one was spotted in Palm Beach County over the weekend on the side of a road in Canal Point.
The next day, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office tweeted out a video of the, um, investigation.
Three deputies stand outside their lit-up cruisers, trying to give the massive reptile its social distancing space. But the beast seems to be staring at the group as if they’re appetizers.
Suddenly, the gator lunges to its left toward one deputy, who bolts away from the scene.
“HQ we’re going to need backup,” reads the agency’s caption. “There’s a big boy on the loose and we’re minus one.”
The video has a soundtrack: Bishop Bullwinkle’s “Hell to the No No No.”
Commenters got the humor, but were duly horrified.
“OMG.”
“Gator was about to get him a snack.”
“Y’all laugh, that ole boy was straight up having a mild stroke as he was trying to ‘run’ away!”
“Wow, he is a big boy! Gotta love Florida!”
“YIKES!!!”
“Hilarious! Hope you’re all safe and well!”
Update: This story doesn’t have a happy ending. A spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office told the Miami Herald Wednesday that the deputies were responding to the scene Sunday evening after a car hit the alligator. It had to be euthanized, she said. The driver was unharmed.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 11:03 AM.
