This report says this is the first alligator found in East Tennessee.
Hogwash, a friend of mine who retired from Southern Railway as an engineer caught one out of the Obed River near Crossville several years ago. Plus there have been videos of others in the Clinch River.
Still wondering why the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency killed it?? ??? ??? ::) ::)
Some b@$$ fishermen posted a gator on video on Watts Bar yesterday. Undoubtedly the same. :o
http://www.rheaheraldnews.com/news/local/article_855f09a0-3c9b-5e80-a115-c096108e4ec9.html?fbclid=IwAR2wiZKCvm2LAdR-BGa0CE6jCKIsoX60Y5ptQFuKRhcd0YPFPZElJ_bUPmM
Warm weather means expanded range. That's a baby though. I have Iguanas running through my yard almost that size.
I just realize this was from 2010. ::) ^^^
But yesterday some more bass fishermen posted another video of a gator in the Tennessee River.
We don't have cottonmouths here, or didn't used to. Wouldn't doubt those rascals will be the next invasive species. Got plenty of them in West TN and lowest elevations of Middle TN, however.
BTW, a couple of armadillos have been seen in the next county to the south. Been several mountain lion spottings, but no proof or certified trail camera pics of any yet.
I'm not sure gators and cottonmouths would be considered invasive species there since they're native to areas at least relatively close to you. I encounter them depending where I fish here in SC, but they're not in the upstate.
How a gator made it to eastern TN is a good question, probably released by someone. The only water migration route would be far up the Missisippi to the TN River and then all the way to Watts Bar Lake and that seems unlikely.
Here's some BAD news...
https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/us/nile-crocodiles-florida-irpt/index.html
Quote from: wfjord on May 31, 2019, 07:00:19 PM
I'm not sure gators and cottonmouths would be considered invasive species there since they're native to areas at least relatively close to you. I encounter them depending where I fish here in SC, but they're not in the upstate.
How a gator made it to eastern TN is a good question, probably released by someone. The only water migration route would be far up the Missisippi to the TN River and then all the way to Watts Bar Lake and that seems unlikely.
Here's some BAD news...
https://oceanleadership.org/nile-crocodiles-identified-south-florida-scientists-say/
That sucks we already have Pythons , Monitor Lizards, millions of Iguanas and now these. The native crocodiles are fairly passive compared to the Gators.
I hope that genetically the Niles cannot breed with the American Crocs.