9-foot gator freed from Hilton Head Island drain

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Workers have freed a nine-foot alligator trapped for days in a storm drain on Hilton Head Island.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports that a crew worked for five hours Friday using fishing lines, ropes, PVC pipes and snares to free the alligator from a drain at Hilton Head Island Plantation.

General manager Peter Kristian says officials got the first complaint about 10 days ago but wanted to give the gator a chance to wriggle back through the storm pipes.

But Kristian says the gator may have gotten stuck and unable to turn around.

The gator was released Friday in a community lagoon.

___

Information from: The Island Packet, http://www.islandpacket.com