HANAHAN, SC – South Carolina has plenty of alligators, but one has the town talking.
An orange-colored alligator dwells in the retention ponds at Tanner Plantation in Hanahan.
Neighbors says the gator is between 4-5 feet long and appears a rust-colored orange.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said one neighbor. “It looks like clay,” said a younger onlooker.
The South Carolina aquarium has an albino alligator. Herpetologist Josh Zalabak says albino gators are born that way, but the orange one in Hanahan is likely due to an environmental factor. “Algae – maybe some pollutant in the water, but it’s hard to say unless the water is tested,” said Zalabak.
Scientists say the alligator will shed its skin as they routinely do and likely return to a normal shade in a short while.
Until it does, neighbors have nicknamed it: “Trump-a-gator.”
