MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An alligator is on the loose in Tunica County.
Pamela Smith told WREG her sister saw the alligator on Highway 61 in Tunica County this week.
Someone grabbed their phone and posted video of the gator on Facebook.
“She was scared, she said,” said Smith.
Commander Adrina Williams with the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office said two different calls came in early Monday morning about the alligator.
Both reported the gator in the southern part of the county.
One person claimed to have spotted the animal around 7:53 a.m. about a mile away from 6 Mile Lake Road.
At 8:30 a.m. , the second person called saying the alligator had been spotted three miles away near Ryals Road.
“We sent units to the area, and they did not come in contact with the wildlife,” said Commander Adrina Williams with the Tunica County Sheriff’s Office.
Crews with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks didn’t see the alligator either when they came out.
That news had some people on edge.
“They probably eat somebody up,” Smith said.
Ricky Flynt, a specialist with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, said this is breeding season for alligators, and male alligators are known to travel across dry land searching for a mate.
He also pointed out alligators could be in every lake in the Mississippi Delta all the way from South Mississippi to Memphis.
“It could be anywhere,” Smith said.
“Of course, do not approach the wildlife. Stay at a safe distance and call your local law enforcement,” Williams said.
Williams said this is the first time she can remember her department getting calls about an alligator in the area.
