Alligator shows up at South Carolina woman's front door

June 8 (UPI) -- A South Carolina woman heard nighttime noises at her front door and flipped on her porch light to reveal an unexpected visitor -- a 7-foot alligator.

Mandy Johnson-Plucinski of the Cameron Village area of Myrtle Beach said she and her 14-year-old son were preparing for bed Tuesday night when they heard a sound at the front door.

"I heard it again and our dog barked," Johnson-Plucinski told WMBF-TV.

Johnson-Plucinski flipped on her porch light and immediately identified the cause of the sounds as a 7-foot alligator right outside the door.

"We were shocked," she said.

Johnson-Plucinski placed a call to Horry County's non-emergency number and the dispatcher gave her the number to reach the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

The DNR contacted Russell "The Snake Chaser" Cavender, who arrived about 40 minutes later at Johnson-Plucinski's home, where the alligator had not budged from its place.

"He didn't move. He stayed there the whole 40 minutes," she said.

Johnson-Plucinski captured video of Cavender capturing the alligator for relocation when he arrived about 11 p.m.

She said the alligator wasn't her first uninvited guest -- a snapping turtle previously made an appearance in the same spot on her porch.

"I thought, this could only happen to us," Plucinski said.