By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
ST. JAMES, N.C. — A North Carolina sheriff’s deputy is being praised after he “fearlessly” challenged an alligator that was going door to door.
It happened April 25 in Brunswick County’s St. James community and Deputy Garrett Jones responded to the call. St. James is about 160 miles southeast of Raleigh.
“Because serving goes beyond enforcing the law ... sometimes it’s wrangling alligators and getting them safely back to their natural habitat,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the post.
A homeowner contacted the department to commend Jones’ handling of the affair, saying he single-handedly escorted the “unwelcome visitor from her property,” officials said. Her identity was not released.
“An alligator was in my front yard and was on my front porch then went to neighbor’s front porch,” the woman told the sheriff’s office.
“I called your office and you dispatched Garrett Jones who fearlessly coached the alligator to march into the woods in back of my house. The ordeal took about an hour but Garrett was patient. I believe you have a great young man on your team.”
A photo of the young alligator shows it was about 5 feet long and last seen headed into a forested area.
Garrett’s skillful handling of the call comes after he joined the department in January. However, his father is Caldwell County Sheriff Alan Jones, so law enforcement may run in the family, officials said.
It’s alligator mating season, when males are apt to wander through unfamiliar turf in search of females, the state reports.
Brunswick County is in the far southeast corner of North Carolina, at the core of the state’s coastal alligator population.
The reptiles are native to North Carolina and can reach about 13 feet and 500 pounds, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
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