Second orange alligator pops up in the Carolinas

CALABASH, N.C. – For the second time this month, a rust-colored alligator has turned up in the Carolinas.

The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported Tuesday that some residents of a Calabash, North Carolina, neighborhood have named the pumpkin-colored alligator “Donny.”

Earlier this month, residents joked that an orange alligator that turned up in a pond near Charleston had used too much self-tanning lotion. Jay Butfiloski with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said the color may have come from where the animal spent the winter, perhaps in a rusty steel culvert pipe.

Experts say alligators shed their skin and will likely return to a normal shade soon.