Video shows a stray alligator swimming near Florida’s flooded streets after Hurricane Helene displaced it

If you do spot an alligator, don’t approach it. “The best way people can stay safe and help wildlife under storm conditions is to be alert and give wildlife their space,” Claerbout said.

Displaced alligators aren’t necessarily a threat

During past hurricanes, alligators have shown up in backyards and golf courses.

In fact, it’s not uncommon for Floridians to brush up against gators even during nicer weather. But murky flood waters can make them more difficult to detect.

While people should be cautious, Claerbout said the FWC hasn’t received any reports of alligator bites since Helene made landfall.

“Serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida,” she said. Moreover, research from the University of Florida suggests hurricanes don’t increase alligator attacks.

Ironically, it’s the gators who may be more at risk. In rural regions of Florida, like in Taylor and Levy counties, if a gator turns up in someone’s backyard, “it’ll likely get invited to dinner and be the main course,” Levy County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Tummond told BI.

Where alligators go before storms and what happens to the displaced ones

Displaced alligators are more common than another animal a Florida resident spotted in a pond in Lakes Park over the weekend: a young bull shark. Bull sharks are unusual in that they can survive in both freshwater and saltwater.

While it’s not certain the storm was responsible, Lakes Park did flood when Helene passed by. If the shark was swimming in a nearby creek, it could have accidentally found itself in the lake during the flood, Susannah Cogburn a graduate student studying sharks at the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University, told NBC2.

The shark should be safe as long as it gets enough to eat, “which, as the only shark in the lake, it seems like they should have an ample amount of food to feed on,” Cogburn said.

FWC also rescued a manatee that was stranded near the runway at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base on September 28.

Florida residents concerned about an animal that appears in distress can call the Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.