Methed-up gators? Tennessee police warn against flushing drugs down the toilet

Pray to never encounter a meth-gator: an alligator on methamphetamine.

One Tennessee police department is urging residents not to flush drugs down the toilet, citing fears that wildlife might consume them and exhibit unnatural behaviors.

“Ducks, geese, and other fowl frequent our treatment ponds and we shudder to think what one all hyped up on meth would do,” the Loretto Police Department posted Saturday on Facebook. “Furthermore, if it made it far enough we could create meth-gators in Shoal Creek and the Tennessee River down in North Alabama.”

Some social media users immediately latched on to prospect of methed-up gators.

“This should be the new mascot for a university down there,” one user tweeted. ”Think of how terrifying it would be to play the South Alabama Meth Gators.”

“TONIGHT!! Live at THE NICK!!! METH GATORRRRR!!!!” another user joked.

The effects of methamphetamine on alligators is unknown. Loretto police did not note any recent documented cases of alligators consuming meth, but took a dig at Alabama’s “attack squirrel” case. Last month, Alabama authorities arrested a man who allegedly fed meth to a pet squirrel named Deeznutz and trained it to attack people. Authorities said they could not conduct a drug test on it, however.

A jungle python in Australia reportedly required six weeks of detoxification after absorbing meth through its skin in a lab. The python behaved more aggressively and erratically, a senior overseer at the John Morony correctional complex told The Telegraph.

Dogs fed meth can suffer from seizures, diarrhea and extreme agitation, according to a study published in the BMC Veterinary Research journal.

Researchers have also found freshwater shrimp with traces of cocaine in the United Kingdom, according to a University of Suffolk study. Professors cited concerns about the environmental consequences of such pollution.

In Tennessee, police noted sanitation workers are not prepared to clean out meth from sewage before sending it to retention ponds or eventually downstream to Alabama’s alligator habitats.

Read more at usatoday.com.