Orange Gator Baffles in SC

No one seems to know why there's an orange alligator in a pond near Charleston, South Carolina. Residents living near the pond in Hanahan say they've seen the orange or rust-colored alligator a number of times, and it's now become a viral sensation. Photos show the 4- to 5-foot-long alligator on the banks of a retention pond at the Tanner Plantation neighborhood, reports the AP. Residents joke the gator used too much self-tanning lotion. Or maybe it's a fan of the Clemson Tigers, who are known for their orange colors.

A state wildlife official theorizes the color may come from where the animal spent the winter, perhaps in a rusty steel culvert pipe. Whatever the reason, the creature is expected to return to a normal shade once it sheds its skin—though some residents swear it's been around for a decade, notes the local Berkeley Observer. Nicknames include "Cheese Puff" and, yes, "Trumpgator." (More strange stuff stories.)