The 16-year-old angler reported the catch to a neighborhood wildlife officer, who assumed it was a joke at first
16-year-old Justin Wyrick exhibits off the gator he caught from Norris Lake ; Tennessee wildlife officer Rick Roberts holds the gator by the snout.
Tennessee Wildlife Sources Company officer Rick Roberts obtained an uncommon telephone name round 5 p.m. on Monday. The caller mentioned his youthful brother had caught an alligator from a lake north of Knoxville. And since there aren’t any wild alligators in East Tennessee, Roberts thought he was joking.
“I used to be off obligation when Tower Wyrick referred to as me and mentioned his youthful brother Justin had caught an alligator at Norris Lake,” Roberts tells Out of doors Life. “I do know them each, and I assumed at first it was a joke. However I might get there in about quarter-hour, so I obtained in my truck and took off.”
Roberts arrived there quickly sufficient and noticed that the brothers weren’t kidding in any case. Justin, 16, nonetheless had the alligator pinned on the bottom and was holding it simply behind its head.
![A 16-year-old Tennessee angler holds up an alligator.](https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/tennessee_teen_catches_gator_stuns_warden_4.jpg?w=1100)
“The gator was torpid, probably from the chilly climate we’d been having,” Roberts says. “So, it was straightforward to deal with. It didn’t wiggle a lot or attempt to chew.”
The 2 brothers instructed Robert’s they’d been bass fishing from the shore at Norris Lake close to the Freeway 33 bridge. Justin mentioned he hooked the roughly 4-foot-long gator on a swimbait. He then fought it for half-hour earlier than he lastly landed it on the financial institution.
Learn Subsequent: The Best Swimbait Rods of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
Roberts referred to as one other TWRA wildlife officer, Jason Lankford, who was on obligation on the time. They waited for about half-hour for Lankford to reach. Within the meantime, Roberts obtained some electrical tape and wrapped it across the gator’s toothy snout.
“Initially I assumed it was a caiman, as a result of I’d had calls about these beforehand,” Roberts explains. “We discovered later that it was an alligator that we really feel sure somebody had launched into Norris Lake.”
![A Tennessee angler with a gator he caught from a lake.](https://www.outdoorlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/tennessee_teen_catches_gator_stuns_warden_2.jpg?w=1700)
When officer Lankford arrived on the scene he was simply as shocked as Roberts. He then transported the reptile to Little Ponderosa Zoo in Anderson County. Roberts says it’s being held there briefly till it may be relocated, though it’s unclear the place they’d take the gator.
Learn Subsequent: Alligator Frozen Stiff in Icy Pond Isn’t Dead. It’s Just Brumating
Alligators are categorized as exotic Class 1 wildlife in Tennessee. These species are thought-about harmful to people and might solely be possessed by somebody with the correct allow.
“I’ve seen numerous issues in over twenty years of being a Tennessee wildlife officer,” Roberts says, “however that’s the primary alligator I’ve seen within the state.”