TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. — Deputies in the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office's Marine and Environmental Lands Unit discovered a 7-foot gator on a public walking trail in the Brooker Creek Preserve and Environmental Education Center early Thursday morning.
On a social media post about the encounter, the PCSO speculated that the gator "was probably just prepping for Thanksgiving dinner like the rest of us."
For the sake of public safety, the deputies moved the gator to a part of the preserve that is off-limits to the public.
"Wildlife encounters like this remind us to always be respectful and cautious in our county's nature preserves," the PCSO said on its Facebook post.
The Booker Creek Preserve, run by the Pinellas County government, is the county's largest natural area with over 8,000 acres of forested wetlands and pine flatwoods.