Alligator shows up in time for school at Bluffton Elementary

A  7 1/2-foot alligator caused Bluffton Elementary School to shift its student drop-off line on Tuesday morning, and a parent of two of its students came to the rescue.

Matt Kraycar of K & K Wildlife Services of Bluffton, said his wife was dropping off two of their children at the school between 7:30 and 8 a.m. when he got the call that an alligator was on the property.

“Parents for car riders at the main building, please be patient this morning. We have an alligator visiting the front entrance by the pond so we have to reroute the drop off for everyone’s safety,” the school posted on its Facebook page.

Kraycar said the male alligator appeared to have been stuck for a while in a fenced off area where students park their bikes.

“He was pretty scratched up,” Kraycar said.

Since the school is near a retention pond, he may have just been trying to pass through the area, he said, adding that school officials and police blocked off the area so no one was in any danger.

The alligator was relocated to an area several miles away, Kraycar said.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 10:20 AM with the headline "Alligator shows up in time for school at Bluffton Elementary."