Increase in alligator sightings in lake at an Alabama apartment complex

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — People living in one Tennessee Valley apartment complex have a big problem on their hands and that problem is alligators.

Several have been spotted in the water at the Sunlake at Edgewater Apartments.

A massive alligator, predicted to measure 8 feet long, has been in the lake for quite some time according to the manager.

“So far that’s what we’ve discovered, and they have been here a long time,” said Dottie Frost, the Edgewater Owners Association Community Manager. “One of them is really big. It was growling and doing this weird thing with its tail.”

According to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the growl, or the bellow as it is known, is a mating call.

The conservation says that alligators can be seen sometimes swimming more often at this warm time of year.

But folks who live at the Sunlake have been seeing the massive animals a lot in these waters, especially within the past week.

“There’s a female that kind of hangs out in there and then we got a few over in here. I’m out there almost every day so I probably see them a lot more than everybody,” one resident said.

It’s not uncommon to have an alligator sighting at the Edgewater apartments. Over the past year the manager says that the population has increased.

Frost told News 19 that folks may want to feed these creatures and it may not be such a good idea.

“Don’t feed them because if you feed them, they are going to associate food with people and that’s when someone will get attacked,” said Frost. “Don’t throw things at them and just leave them alone.”

Warning signs are placed throughout the complex. Frost advises that if you need to photograph an alligator at the lake, photograph from a safe distance.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says if you believe an alligator poses a threat to people or pets, give them a call. You can find that information here.

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