Gator Spotted In Chattahoochee

Shooting the Hootch just got a little more challenging.

An 6 to 7-foot long alligator has been spotted in the Chattahoochee River at I-285 at the Cobb-Fulton County line.

Fisherman Nick Lawrimore told Channel 2 Action News he spotted the gator Tuesday morning.

VIDEO: Gator Spotted In Cobb County

Lawrimore called his father. When David Lawrimore got to the river he also spotted the alligator.

"I did a triple take. I had to bring my dad down here just so he could see it so I could have someone else tell me, 'Yes, you're seeing an alligator,' said Nick.

The Lawrimores called the National Park Service.

That section of the Hootch is part of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and is administered by the Park Service.

The Lawrimores said an NPS employee came out to take pictures and promised the gator will be trapped on Wednesday.

Officials said it is extremely rare to see an alligator in north Georgia. Usually they stay well below the fall line in Macon.

No one knows how the alligator made it up so far north.

In the area where the large reptile was found, people often wade into the water to fish, raft and there is a jogging trail nearby.

"I was sitting back there fishing and it came up after a fish and it just, scared me, pretty much. (I have) never seen an alligator before, especially five feet away from me, so it just startled me more or less," said Lawrimore.

Nick's dad said it is the first gator he has seen during his 40 years of fishing on the Chattahoochee.

DNR officials are on the scene and they do have a snare hook with them so there is the possibility they may trap the animal and transport the gator to an area in the southern part of the state.

There are approximately 250,000 alligators in Georgia. In the past 20 years in Georgia, there have been only six attacks on humans and none were fatal.