Latest news with #NCWildlifeResourcesCommission
New York Post
5 days ago
- New York Post
400-pound monster alligator named Pepe ‘detained' for ‘being a dinosaur without proper papers' in NC
The scales of justice came for Pepe. Cops detained – and rescued – a monster 10-foot alligator they nicknamed Pepe the Gator sunbathing on a busy road in North Carolina and 'charged' him on suspicion of being a 'dinosaur.' 'Witnesses say he was just chilling and snapping, clearly ignoring the 'no loitering or lounging on roadways' sign,' the Onslow County Sheriff's Office wrote in a playful press release last week. 'Pepe has been cited for Suspicion of Being a Dinosaur Without Proper Papers, Public Loitering with Intent to Sunbathe, and Obstructing Traffic.' Advertisement 3 Deputies and a wildlife officer straddle Pepe the Gator, who was playfully charged with being a dinosaur without proper papers as he sunbathed on a North Carolina highway last month. Onslow County Sheriff's Office The responding deputies and officers from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission who got the call on May 25 managed to safely remove Pepe, but not before posing for pictures where they straddle him like rodeo riders. 'He was 10 feet long, 400 pounds. He was an absolute monster,' Trevor Dunnell, spokesman for the Onslow County Sheriff's Office told the Post Thursday. Advertisement 'They did a fantastic job of wrangling him.' To indicate the scale of the gator, Dunnell pointed out how, in the picture, even with three grown men on top of him, Pepe's still not covered. 'The picture really doesn't do it justice, I mean 10 feet … 10 feet is a basketball goal, that is a massive creature,' he said. Although 10 feet seems big, it's nothing compared to the largest gator on record – 14 feet and 3 and a half inches. Advertisement Deputies and wildlife officials used a towel to cover Pepe's eyes — eye contact is what triggers the animal's notorious death roll, Dunnell explained — and electrical tape to seal his mouth shut. 'It was definitely some MacGyver stuff they had to use,' he said. 'He may not have a good time during the removal, but he was playfully enough about it later to understand that, 'Hey, man, you gotta do what you gotta do.'' 3 Deputies and a wildlife officer in North Carolina successfully relocated Pepe the Gator. Onslow County Sheriff's Office Dunnell said the office received blowback from people online wishing the cops had just left Pepe alone. but Dunnell was quick to point out that leaving the reptile on the side of the road could have posed a hazard not only to residents but also to the gator. Advertisement 'You never know what can happen when kids are running around,' he said. 'And the gator could wind up in the middle of the road. It could hurt drivers but it could hurt him, too.' Dunnell said he hopes to see body camera footage of Pepe's apprehension. The two deputies and the wildlife official in the picture are happy to be riding him, Dunnell said, adding that if authorities encounter another Pepe, they'll know who to call. 3 The sheriff's office dropped all charges against Pepe the Gator, who was playfully suspected of being a dinosaur without his proper papers, after he was returned to his natural habitat. Onslow County Sheriff's Office 'But some deputies were absolutely not fine,' he said. 'When they got back, they were saying, 'You're not going to catch me on that thing. I'm not going to go anywhere near it!'' Pepe was far from home, and Dunnell suspects that it was a hot day and he was looking for a good spot to bask. 'How far he wandered is anybody's guess,' he said. 'It must've been several miles at least.' After further investigation, Dunnell said, they declined to charge Pepe. Instead, they drove him to a boat ramp at nearby Camp Geiger, a satellite facility of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Advertisement 'I think we've touched base with the gator and let him know we dropped the charges,' he joked. 'Pepe's back to his normal routine, he's hanging out near the beach and lounging in his natural habitat, hunting for his food and looking for a girlfriend.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Invasive bass species spreads from western North Carolina to Piedmont Triad
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — A bass species that's invasive to North Carolina is spreading in our lakes and rivers and competing with our native fish, according to the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. Biologists with the NCWRC are asking the public for help to prevent the spread of Alabama bass to protect the future of native largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass in NC. As of April, they have been reported in Belews Lake, the Dan River and Salem Lake. 'They're being stocked and moved to new locations by anglers who need to understand the impact it's having to our native black bass family of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass,' District Biologist Kin Hodges said. 'Populations of largemouth bass are being dramatically reduced, while North Carolina could potentially lose smallmouth and spotted bass.' Alabama bass have been known to exist in NC waters since the 1980s, but only sparsely. They were first found in far southwestern Lake Chatuge and then Lake Norman. They are believed to have been stocked by anglers. Routine fisheries surveys conducted by NCWRC biologists have documented the spread of Alabama bass over the last 20 years in NC reservoirs and rivers. Their distribution has rapidly grown and spread, and they are now being identified in coastal areas, including the Roanoke River and Tar River. 'When we heard Alabama bass were being caught in reservoirs upstream of our coastal rivers in 2020, we anticipated we would start seeing them downstream,' Coastal Region Fisheries Research Coordinator Kevin Dockendorf said. 'In October 2024, our fisheries biologists collected Alabama bass in the Roanoke and Tar rivers with boat electrofishing. This expansion of Alabama bass is of concern given the similarities of NC's coastal rivers to the habitats found in Alabama bass's natural range.' While fishing for Alabama bass is popular with some anglers, NCWRC staff say many are unaware of the threats they pose and are continuing to move the species into new waters. 'They are being illegally spread across the state by misguided anglers who think that they will make the fishing better,' Hodges said. 'The only tools we have to minimize the damage being caused by Alabama bass are to encourage anglers not to spread them to new waters and to harvest as many as possible in waters where they have already been introduced to minimize their damage.' It is to move or stock fish into public waters without a stocking permit from the NCWRC. This includes live well releases into waters different from where the fish were caught. If you know about any Alabama bass stockings, you're asked to report them by calling 800-662-7137. Anyone who catches one in a body of water not previously documented is asked to take a picture and report it through the NC Wildlife Aquatic Nuisance Species Reporting Tool or by emailing . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
