Gator alert in Blountstown! Residents react to the capture of three alligators in a week

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - It’s not every day Blountstown officials have the chance to wrangle alligators! Blountstown Animal Control and Police Chief Mallory captured three alligators in residential areas of the town in one week.

“In the past, there’s never been encounters with them in the residential areas,” said Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory.

One of the gators was about 4 feet long and was found right outside Merle Norman Salon and Spa.

“My mother-in-law was coming across the road right here and he (the alligator) was coming across in front of her, and he was actually in this culver right here, me and Lorenda did not even get this close to him, but he was all poked up in that ditch looking towards us this way,” said Taylor Harris, a worker at Merle Norman Salon and Spa who spotted an alligator. “It was very nerve-wracking especially since we have cats, so we were like, ‘oh god’, we gotta do something before one of them gets under our car and whatnot.”

The alligators were captured right away and then released back into the Apalachicola River. Residents and officials say they’re used to seeing gators around the lake and river in town, but they’re not common around homes and businesses. “First time I’ve seen them in those areas of Blountstown in 25 years of policing,” said chief Mallory.

Blountstown officials are urging everyone to be alert and cautious while outside.

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