Alligator Emerges From Bush; Startles Idaho Man Walking Dog

Alligators and Idaho aren't two things one usually hears in the same sentence. A man walking a dog in southwestern Idaho recently was surprised to find a nearly four-foot alligator approaching him and his dog from some bushes.

The incident happened Thursday evening (October 20), but it took animal control some time to respond to the New Plymouth location to assist in transporting the animal to a safe holding spot. New Plymouth is a city in Payette County, which is roughly 50 miles northwest of Boise.

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While alligators aren't native to the Gem State, a few did at one time dwell in one site in the southern region of Twin Falls County. I'm not sure if it's still there, but for years an alligator habitat could be found on the grounds of Miracle Hot Springs, which is located 150 miles southeast of New Plymouth and a few miles outside of the city of Jerome, Idaho.

Aside from the hot spring, you won't find these animals roaming wild in the state. Sometimes breeders illegally transport such animals from other regions of the country and world for profit potential, and they get loose and are taken to a holding site by local animal control. This might have been the case in last week's incident in New Plymouth.

States that do have wild alligators include Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Louisiana has the highest concentration of wild gators with an estimated two million, according to state wildlife management.