NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A large alligator was removed from a median along Rivers Avenue on Thursday morning.

The alligator was initially seen in one lane of Rivers Avenue heading towards the US 52 Connector, not far from Greenridge Road, just before 5:00 a.m. The alligator was seen on its back in a median a few hours later.

Greg Lucas with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) said animal control in North Charleston requested assistance with the removal of the alligator and said that both agencies received multiple calls.

While a municipality would typically handle removal from the roadway in cases like this, Lucas said a contract agent was dispatched to remove the alligator because of its size, which was eight to 10 feet.

Lucas told News 2 that the alligator likely came out of a drainage ditch located next to Northwoods Mall on the opposite side of the highway.

“Alligators frequent this area, especially in the spring. It is not unusual to have an alligator in that area,” he said.

Meanwhile, a rollover crash snarled traffic not far from that location around the time the alligator was first discovered; however, a spokesman for the North Charleston Police Department told News 2 the alligator had nothing to do with that collision.