Everyone deserves a vacation.
Pennsylvania beachgoers got the shock of their life Sunday when they spotted an alligator swimming alongside them on the shore of Lake Erie.
Wild video shows the reptile floating about 20 yards off Erie’s beach and watching peacefully as panicked swimmers fled the waters.
“At first I thought it was fake,” Stina Roach, who took the now-viral video, told Go Erie.
“But then we saw the tail and body. It was kind of scary.”
Roach and other terrified witnesses reported the unbelievable sight, but the gator — which seemed to measure between 4 and 6 feet in length — slipped beneath the surface before state wildlife experts could arrive.
The critter has been on the loose in the three days since, but left behind some clues that it’s still enjoying the waves. Officials found footprints in the sand on Wednesday.
The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority is spearheading the hunt for the scaly tourist and has left several traps along the shores, as well as signs alerting swimmers not to enter the water.
“Our concern is making sure that the public is safe,” Julie Slomski, the Port Authority’s executive director, told Go Erie. “Hopefully, this alligator is safe wherever it may be.”
Officials suspect the gator was an exotic pet that was released into the lake by someone who could no longer care for the creature — which can grow up to 11 feet long.
There’s a chance the Lake Erie gator is a miniature suspect of the species.
There’s also a chance the alligator is just a toy and is part of a long-running prank against the Pennsylvanian city.
Officials are operating under the assumption the alligator is real, however, which makes the rescue mission imperative — the cold-blooded reptile could not survive a cold winter in Erie, where temperatures are routinely below freezing.
And the longer they wait, the further the gator can make its way through the nearly 10,000 square mile lake.
“We’re thankful that folks are communicating on what they saw and heard,” said Slomski.
