Catchin’ some rays

■ This handsome Florida native was captured chilling out on Monday, July 9 at 1st Street beach and was also seen checking out the beach at Sundown Colony off Gulf Blvd. The gator was about five feet long, just a youth, and couldn’t seem to figure out how to get home. It would be interesting if this one was one of the many born and raised in the culvert off 1st and Gulf Blvd. over the years. While it isn’t every day that you see an alligator on our beaches, it isn’t entirely unheard of either. We’ve even had crocodile sightings.
One man, Travis Scott, was walking on the beach near Sundown with his 6-year-old son when they were surprised to realize the alligator had joined them in their constitutional. He said it entered the water and was last seen heading south. Another man took photos of the gator tracks between Gulf Dunes and Sundown South as he and his wife walked the beach north during turtle patrol.
“It had covered quite a lot of ground before returning to the water,” he said.
There have been no further sightings of the alligator reported to our office since Tuesday.
Photo by Holly Sanders of Fort Valley, Ga.