Noted swamp fan Donald Trump now has a vaguely orange alligator from South Carolina nicknamed after him. The gator in question resides in the retention ponds at Tanner Plantation in Hanahan, WCBD Newsreported last Wednesday. This so-called "Trumpagator" boasts a possible length of five feet and, much like his namesake, has no interest in draining any swamps.
The jokes were plentiful when Tanner Plantation first shared an image of the gator to its Facebook page, with the "Trumpagator" nickname quickly reaching critical mass. "It's the Trumpagator of Self-Tanner Plantation," one witty observer noted, according to the Post and Courier.
The gator's unfortunate complexion, however, likely isn't permanent. Instead, the Trump-esque hue is likely due to the surrounding environment. "He's the color of rust," alligator biologist Kent A. Vliet told the Post and Courier Thursday after peeping photos of the gator. That color, Vliet explained, will eventually wash off in the water. If not, the gator's skin-shedding habit should do the trick.
Viral shenanigans aside, this actually doesn't mark the first time a vaguely orange gator made headlines. As Forbesnoted in their own Trumpagator dissection, a similarly dyed gator was spotted down in Florida back in 2011. "He was just sun-basking right here on this little cement pier," one stoked witness told WPTV at the time. Another witness, a bragging grandmother, said she was stoked to send pics of the 2011 orange gator to her grandkids "so they think I'm one of the coolest grandmas in Florida."
A bold bet of 10 bucks says one of these gators runs for public office soon. Who's in?
