Sometimes, alligators look for love in distant places.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, called to a nuisance alligator complaint in Lake Providence, La., on April 11, found some tags located on the alligator’s tail and on its hind feet. The alligator was originally tagged by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks on March 18, 2009.

The alligator, identified as White 4, was originally captured and tagged by MDWFP approximately one mile south of Eagle Lake, more than 30 miles from Lake Providence. Normally, alligators don’t travel farther than 10 miles from their normal home territory, even during the breeding season in late April and May. But it’s not totally unknown for alligators to move great distances in search of breeding females.

“It’s pretty unusual,” MDWFP biologist Ricky Flynt said of White 4’s travels. “An alligator traveling over 30 miles is quite uncommon. But we have so little information on their movements. Males travel more than the females and with all of the competition among males during the breeding season, males will go in search of breeding females.”

Food supply didn’t play a likely role in the alligator’s movements, Flynt said.

Flynt said the alligator population in Eagle Lake is extremely healthy and White 4 was a good example of this.

At the time of capture in 2009,he was 7-feet, 7-inches long. When he was captured near Lake Providence, he measured 9-2.

Since the time of original capture in Mississippi, White 4 had traveled at least 30.6 miles and had grown 6.3 inches per year.

The MDWFP has tagged more than 30 alligators since 2009 in the Eagle Lake area to study their movements and keep tabs on the population’s health.

Despite being an isolated population with all of the farmland bordering the river, the alligators in the Delta are thriving, Flynt said.

“The alligators in the Delta region are probably the healthiest population in the state,” Flynt said. “Where they exist, they’ve got ample resources.”