Pennsylvania Alligator Sighting: Police Investigating Reports Of Six-Foot Gator In Belle Vernon

Police in Pennsylvania are investigating two different alligator sightings in the Monongahela River, in the Southwestern part of the state.

On Wednesday, police and Coast Guard authorities took to the waters to search for the six-to-seven-foot-long alligator that was spotted by two different people on Monday and Tuesday. Police believe the accounts are legitimate, and they are taking it very seriously.

The first call came into the dispatchers on Tuesday, according to CBS Pittsburgh, when a man reported seeing the giant gator swimming upstream just before midnight, Southwest Regional Police Chief John Hartman said.

“A local resident was down here at the wharf and saw that he believed was a log going against the current upstream. He shined a spotlight on what he believed was a log and lit up what he identified as an alligator. He said he’s been a fisherman in these waters all his life, he knows what he saw. It was not a fish, it was an alligator. The head of the gator was out of the water about seven inches and he saw the eyes shining, two eyes looking at him.”

A second sighting of the Pennsylvania alligator was reported on Monday, according to Hartman. This time, the witness, Josh Adams, saw a duck disappearing into the river’s waters.

“I saw this small duck swimming across just by itself and I thought that was odd that it was by itself, and I was standing there watching it for a few seconds, and then boom, it went underwater pretty fast like it got pulled under the water and didn’t come back up at all.”

Police are asking residents to be on the lookout for the massive Pennsylvania alligator and call if they spot the animal. Authorities from the Southwest Regional Police Department are working in conjunction with the Coast Guard, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and the Pittsburgh Zoo to try to locate the gator.

While most people don’t associate Pennsylvania with alligators, this is not the first time a gator has been spotted in the state. In the summer of 2013, there were three separate sightings of alligators roaming the waters of Pennsylvania rivers.

Alligators are native to warm waters, such as those found in the Southeastern United States. Previous alligator sightings in Pennsylvania are mostly associated with irresponsible owners allowing their pets to escape.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]