More Than Just Crocodile Tears- Citizens Pay Heartwarming Tribute To Late Flat Creek Floyd, Beloved Local Alligator

“Crocodile Rock” by Elton John played as local citizens congregated at the fountain in front of the local library and city hall buildings- never mind that Flat Creek Floyd, the reason for the event (and for the abundance of gator-themed clothing, including a noticeable amount of Florida Gators attire, sported at the gathering), was an alligator and not a crocodile.  It is the sentiment that matters, and after all, there does not appear to be a surplus of festive music about wide-smiling reptiles in American culture. 

Flat Creek Floyd, a 12-foot alligator who lived in Flat Creek near the Wilshire Pavilion Publix, was recently hit by a car while attempting to cross Highway 74, passing away on June 6.  In what Mayor Learnard referred to as a “spirit of levity and community,” several Peachtree City residents gathered on Friday, June 13, for a tribute to the late Flat Creek Floyd.  In lieu of flowers, attendees were asked to make donations to the Fayette County Animal Shelter.

City Council member Suzanne Brown “didn’t know [Floyd] very well,” and “did not want him to be an up-close friend” when she first learned of his existence.  However, she, like many other Peachtree City residents, enjoyed hearing updates on Floyd sightings on social media.  

A fellow councilman, Clint Holland, reminded citizens that Floyd provided an exemplary picture of what it is to mind one’s own business and coexist peacefully with those different from oneself- the alligator was not known to show aggression towards people or pets, although some speculate he may have killed a few beavers in his day.  

A speaker from the audience hailed him as “a role model to alligators everywhere” for his peaceful ways.  “He was a good boy,” the speaker said, reminiscing on the life the alligator led in a creek very near her own back yard.

Janet Moon, the Peachtree City Chief of Police, provided some history on the gator’s near-decade of known life in Peachtree City: apparently, she began to get phone calls in 2016 from concerned citizens who worried about the alligator’s proximity to their homes.  The alligator was, upon investigation, not deemed a public threat, and a very witty and creative city clerk invented the name “Flat Creek Floyd” and sent it to Moon.  “He was a myth to some and a mild panic to others,” Janet Moon reminisced.  She highlighted how this “sentinel of the swamp” served to unite the community- an unofficial mascot, of sorts.  Moon reported having more problems with people trying to take selfies with the alligator or feed it hot dogs than with the gator itself, which mostly kept to itself and avoided contact (violent or otherwise) with citizens.

After the speeches, and the playing of a song titled “The Ballad of Flat Creek Floyd,” children’s librarian Janice Rake read aloud a children’s book “There’s An Alligator Under My Bed” to many of the children (and some of the adults) attending the event.  Children also signed a large poster board asking what interesting wildlife they had seen around Peachtree City, or colored on sheets depicting different types of local animals.