Frozen Alligator Dragged from Occoquan Reservoir

A 750-pound alligator in a state of brumation was safely removed from Occoquan Reservoir Tuesday by Virginia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission personnel.

The gator, which was almost 12 feet long and estimated to be over 100 years old, was taken from an area near Fountainhead Regional Park Marina without harm, according to police.

The alligator was discovered Tuesday morning by a kayaker, who called town police. When officers arrived, they determined the alligator posed no threat to the public because it was in a state of brumation, the reptile version of hibernation, and called the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, police said. “Even during brumation, an alligator will come up from its mud hole to get a little sunshine,” said conservationist Wallace Geriel.

While alligator sightings have become common in Virginia in the past ten years, this was only the seventh in Fairfax County and the largest by far. In its sluggish state, the alligator was strapped into a makeshift harness and dragged by backhoe from a shallow marsh 10 feet from the shoreline.

Geriel said had the weather been warmer, the animal would have likely been euthanized in the reservoir. Instead, the sleepy alligator was taken to a breeding program farm in Glenora, Virginia, near Lake Anna.

“Don’t allow dogs or children to swim in waters inhabited by alligators, or to drink or play at the water’s edge. To an alligator, a splash potentially means a food source is in the water,” Geriel said.