If there’s anything that can bring recess to a halt, it’s the sight of a man carrying an alligator past the school’s playground with its mouth taped shut.

That happened Friday at Mattamuskeet School in Hyde County, and photos show students dropped whatever they were doing to gawk at the 5-foot, 5-inch predator.

The alligator was discovered stuck in a man-made lagoon that is being drained for a school construction project, officials said.

“Since the alligator could not crawl out on its own, due to a slick liner covering all sides, we decided to relocate it to prevent any possible harm that could result from construction activities,” according to Associate Wildlife Biologist Dallas Shoemaker of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“We had to walk past the playground to get back to our vehicles, so we were able to stop for a few minutes and give the students a quick biology lesson and discuss the GatorWise basics of living in an area with alligators.”

Once the lesson was concluded, the male alligator was “safely released nearby in suitable habitat,” he said.

The gator was estimated at around 15 years of age, and construction workers say it showed up in the lagoon on Thursday, Shoemaker said.

News of the discovery did not seem to surprise people familiar with the lagoon.

“When I was a kid, I always imagined there was something living in there. Cool to see it actually turn out to be true,” Ian Beard posted on the school’s Facebook page.

Mattamuskeet School is located in Swan Quarter, and has about 485 students in pre-K through grade 12, according to USNews.com.

American alligators can reach 13 feet and 500 pounds in eastern North Carolina, which is the northernmost range of the species.

GatorWise is a list of basic safety rules for cohabitating with the predators.

•Assume alligators are present in their range areas. (They are good at hiding.)

•Never feed alligators.

•Don’t dispose of fish or food scraps in water.

•Never harass, capture, or handle an alligator.

•Be responsible for people and pets in your care. “Alligators do not know the difference between pets and their natural prey,” experts say.

•Maintain awareness anytime you are in or near water.

Swan Quarter is about a 150-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.

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