(UPI) An 8-1/2-foot alligator was captured on the porch of a South Carolina home late at night while the family inside slept soundly, neighbors said.

The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office dispatched deputies to the Pinecrest subdivision in Bluffton Saturday night and contacted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which contacted a permitted alligator control agent to respond to the scene.

Amber Blakes, the resident who contacted the sheriff's office, said the alligator had been seen wandering the neighborhood for at least a year before she and other residents discovered it in the middle of the street Saturday night, refusing to move for traffic.

The alligator moved to a nearby front porch by the time authorities arrived, Blakes said.

Blakes said the residents of the home and their visiting grandson were sleeping inside and were not roused by the commotion on their porch.

The alligator, which measured 8 feet, 6 inches long, was later euthanized, officials said.

A driver traveling through Bluffton Saturday morning reported spotting an alligator at the entrance of the Palmetto Pointe subdivision. It was unclear whether it was the same alligator that was captured later in the day.

DNR spokesman said alligator calls are increasing in frequency as the weather warms and the reptiles' mating season begins. He said the same gator trapper was called Monday morning for a 10-foot alligator in Hardeeville.

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