Alligators, except those of the Gainesville, Florida variety, aren’t usually a deep orange color. So residents of Hanahan, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston, were caught off-guard by this strikingly orange gator.

So we here at The Comeback, who love trafficking in stories just like this, have come up with a few possible solutions:

It’s a really big Clemson fan: Clemson fever must still be sweeping the state, so even the gators in retaining ponds want to jump on the bandwagon.

Too much time in a tanning bed: Who is to say only humans can spend too much time in tanning salons these days? We all want to have that perfect shine.

He ate too many Flamin’ Hot Cheetos: Those things can easily be addicting, can’t they?

He’s secretly Spray Dan from those Wells Fargo commercials: Would have made sense considering his soccer skills.

He swallowed this moron: 

I’m actually totally OK with this.

Jay Butfiloski of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says the gator likely spent the winter in a rusty pipe, which probably caused his skin to change color. When he sheds his skin, the gator will go back to his normally green color.

But if you saw an orange alligator roaming around your neighborhood, I bet you’d be afraid too. Mutant gators are not anything you want to cross.

[Miami Herald]

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.