Alligators are ferocious animals that are extremely durable, and unless you are highly trained, close contact with them should always be avoided. One alligator living in Southern Louisiana, however, is being called adorable and getting a lot of sympathy from humans throughout the world. This alligator, which was spotted by Ashlyn Bartholomew while driving her children back from baseball practice, is missing its tail.

She snapped a video of the alligator while it was crossing the road, and posted it on her Facebook page with the following caption:

“Y’all be careful. There’s half an alligator walking on the road.”

Not surprisingly, her post went viral, and people all over the place reacted to the sad, but still kind of funny, images of this tailless alligator.

You can see the video of this alligator walking here:

This is not an unusual birth defect. It lost its tail in some type of dramatic event. Alligators have remarkable healing abilities, though, and can survive serious injuries like losing limbs or even tails. Robert Mendyk is a reptile expert at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, and he talked with the local news about this event, saying:

“The wound walls itself off and heals. They have really phenomenal healing and regenerative abilities.”

In some cases, alligators can regrow limbs or even tails, though in this case, it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. The tail seems to have healed over with the rough skin alligators are known for, which means it is as healed as it is going to get.

An injury this severe would normally mean death for animals in the wild, but alligators are very tough and can adapt to most things. Missing a tail would mean that the alligator would lose much of its ability to swim quickly, which is an essential skill for hunting. Normal alligators will rest in murky water until their prey gets close, and then use their tail to thrust themselves forward and bite the other animal.

Without this ability, this poor alligator likely had to adjust its hunting techniques. It may do more scavenging or hunting of already injured animals. This may even explain why it was found on a road, as the alligator may stalk areas near roads for fresh roadkill that it can consume.

However, it is surviving; this alligator shows just how resilient these creatures can be. And, for anyone in the area, just because it doesn’t have its tail does not mean it isn’t dangerous.

Anyone who happens to stumble across him would be wise to keep their distance.

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