‘We had to stop or we would have hit it.’ Gator strolls through Hilton Head Plantation

Why did the alligator cross the road?

We’re not sure.

Part-time Hilton Head Islander Joanie Vater of New Jersey recently saw the gator up on all fours ambling across a busy street in Hilton Head Plantation.

“We were so stunned,” she said.

She fumbled for her cell phone and was able to get a few seconds of the large animal ducking under a fence and heading for a lagoon off of Seabrook Drive near Whooping Crane Way.

“I needed to get some evidence,” she said. “I don’t know what it was doing. We had to stop or we would have hit it.”

If nothing else, the close encounter with a prehistoric-looking creature got her dogs excited.

“They were earning their keep,” she said.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 1:25 PM with the headline "‘We had to stop or we would have hit it.’ Gator strolls through Hilton Head Plantation."