One-eyed, 3 legged gator caught in Seacrest Beach

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1-eyed, 3-legged gator caught in Walton (with PHOTOS) | alligator, beach, deputies - News - Northwest Florida Daily News

One-eyed, 3-legged gator caught in Walton (with PHOTOS)
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April 23, 2009 - 1:56 PM
Suzanne Preston
Florida Freedom Newspapers

During the early morning at Seacrest Beach, an alligator was spotted close to the water's edge.

"I saw him at the edge of the beach," said Brooke Regnier of Indiana. "At first I thought it was just a piece of driftwood."

What Regnier discovered on closer inspection was an alligator. She promptly called in the sighting to the Walton County Sheriff's Office. Beach patrol deputies received the call from dispatch at 9:30 a.m.

Deputies Jason Day and Bobby Hoke arrived to find a small, less than 5-foot alligator, had found its way beachside. The one-eyed, three-legged alligator was captured with little fanfare.

Onlookers were few. However, one family visiting from Chicago ventured away from playing in the surf to take a closer look once the gator was safely bound and loaded into the beach patrol vehicle.

"This will probably be the highlight of our trip," said Janet White. "It sure beats the lake. We've never seen anything like this."

As her five children and husband, Kevin, stood at the back of the truck, the kids talked with deputies about the difference between alligators and crocodiles.

"Our grandmother lives close to the zoo (Brookfield) and we know how to tell them apart," said nine-year-old Corrine. "The alligator's mouth is rounded and a crocodile's is pointed."

The children lingered around the truck bed as long as the deputies could allow. As they drove away, alligator in tow, the children laughed and giggled.

"It's the perfect day at the beach," Corrine said.

The alligator was taken to a safe location and returned without harm to freedom.