As Tropical Storm Debby drenches South Carolina, the region’s alligators and catfish are testing new waters – from puddles to backyard pools and the roads in between.
In a viral video, Robert Moose Rini watches from his vehicle as an alligator ambles across a rainy Hilton Head Island road before taking a quick break in a puddle. Mr Rini says he first saw the animal in the turn lane of the busy road.
“Imagine walking around the corner and seeing that sucker,” he said.
It’s a common fear, popping up in dubious social media posts every hurricane season: predators showing up where you’d least expect them.
Fake images of sharks in storm-flooded streets are so common, they have their own Wikipedia page. But alligators in backyards? Those are real for many Americans in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
Wildlife experts say that alligators don’t typically stray too far from their natural habitats. They stick to freshwater and like to burrow down when they sense a storm coming, the South Carolina newspaper The State reports.
But it’s not unusual to see alligators and other wetland creatures where human neighbourhoods and developments such as golf courses butt up against freshwater ponds, rivers and wetlands.
This summer, Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Alberto were credited with pushing nearly 200 crocodiles to explore more populated areas in Tamaulipas, a Mexican state that borders Texas, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
In South Carolina, several videos show alligators popping up on roads. One woman on Hilton Head told the Island Packet newspaper that she looked out her window to find she had a pool crasher – a small gator enjoying the shallow end.
Mr Rini, a South Carolina real estate agent, tells the BBC that he has lived on the island, a popular vacation spot, since 1981. He says residents try to avoid the lagoons alligators live in, but they’re hard to spot among foliage and in murky water, especially after storms.
“They don’t bug you if don’t you bug them. But if they’re there, you know – they’re wild animals. They’re unpredictable,” he says, adding that he often has to warn out-of-town buyers with dogs and young children.
The animals inspire fear across the US coastal South, owing to their size, large mouths and prehistoric appearance. Female alligators tap out at around 10 feet, though male alligators can grow larger. And while they prefer to eat fish, amphibians and small mammals, alligators will snap their jaws at anything that comes too close.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns that even in neighbourhoods where residents have learned to co-exist with alligators, “the potential for conflict always exists”.
Crawl, a 2019 horror movie, depicts a Florida father and daughter fighting a pack of vicious alligators that invade their home through hurricane floodwaters.
But experts say that if treated with caution and left alone, alligators tend keep to themselves.
In fact, humans pose some threat to the species, which is protected. Drivers sometimes strike them trying to navigate roads in the rain. They can also get stuck and die in storm drains and other infrastructure.
Most are just looking for a place to ride out the storm, Matt Kraycar, owner of K&K Wildlife Services told the Island Packet. “They’re going to go back to where the food is and where they feel comfortable.”
They’re also not alone in wandering as Debby makes its way across the Southeast. Other animals are also showing up in unusual places.
Several videos after Debby’s landfall show a species known as walking catfish popping up in driveway puddles in Florida and South Carolina. The videos have drawn attention to the “slippery mucus”-covered species, which is native to southeast Asia and considered unwanted but invasive, reports CBS, the BBC’s American news partner.
Experts say the biggest animal-related risk to humans in floodwaters is snakes, which are harder to spot.
