The above alligator was the largest yet in Westbury Park, which likely is why it was removed a week or so after these photos were taken.

Perhaps it's because so many Bluffton residents, such as Olinda and I, moved here from the north that we are so fascinated by alligators, though it's always good to know where they may be lurking.

A few years ago one was discovered resting in a water hazard on a Hilton Head miniature golf course. As a family from Rochester, New York, approached the hole, they figured the gator couldn't be real. Surprise.

Last year (2009) another gator strolled through a Wal-Mart parking lot, also on Hilton Head Island.

But the most famous local alligator was the one that showed up at the front door of a home in Sun City (above, right), about five miles east of Westbury Park.

Residents Robert and Roslyn Loretta heard what sounded like a knock at their door and luckily Mrs. Loretta looked through the peephole and saw what was making the noise.

The Lorettas had a hunch what was going on. The alligator had been on the bank of a pond behind the house when the couple began barbecuing chicken on their back patio. They moved the food into the house and noticed the 'gator also on the move. A few minutes later it went into the Lorettas' garage before deciding to try the more direct front door approach. The alligator managed to get up on its back legs and came close to ringing the door bell.

Neighbor Richard Holinski took the photo that wound up in newspapers all over the world.

By then a small crowd had gathered and they apparently frightened the animal enough that it turned and scurried off toward the water and disappeared.

Gators would do better to avoid attention. Those who venture too close to areas where people congregate are rounded up by a local company called Critter Management. Like unruly pets, the alligators wind up "on the farm."

– JACK MAJOR