Two alligators with bright orange, leathery skin are mesmerizing a South Carolina community.
The pair, spotted in a pond in Bluffton, likely didn’t gain their unique coloration from dipping into a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos — or the tanning bed that some imagine the President may own. Instead, dully enough, it’s probably from rust, CNN reported.
https://t.co/qCBxBRucZ8 This crazy weather is a function of a much larger issue. We may start to see people of unusual colors, lol, T
— Terrance Harvell (@Terryharvell) February 15, 2019
That’s what David Lucas of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources told the news station.
“During the winter, the alligators like to dig in and find a place to hibernate,” he said. “It is possible that some end up near drainage pipes that have rusty metal pieces inside, so basically they marinate in rust all winter, and this stains them.”
A similarly hued gator emerged around the same time of year in a Charleston lake in 2017. The water temperatures start to warm up around, bringing alligators out of hibernation.
“We don’t see orange alligators every year, which is why they get so much attention,” Lucas said.
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