11-foot-long 'King Arthur' the alligator spotted at South Carolina golf resort with mysterious head piece

 A South Carolina alligator was found with a strange object on its head — and wildlife experts were called in to Georgia to get to the bottom of it.

The University of Georgia Coastal Ecology Lab posted a Facebook post Monday about the 11-foot-long alligator, which has been named King Arthur.

The lab reported that it was recently contacted about a "dominant male alligator" wearing unusual equipment at the Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort on St. Helena Island, South Carolina.

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“After talking to them and looking at the pictures they sent, it looked like this crocodile had somehow got a tomato cage stuck on its head!” The lab said.

UGA Coastal Ecology Lab staff first cautioned against any human intervention, as animals can sometimes free themselves after becoming entangled in an object.

"The first step in situations like this is to monitor the animals closely to see whether the object is affecting their normal behavior and whether they are making progress toward being freed," the lab explained.

"With this crocodile, it looked like his ability to eat might be affected, but after 2 days he was able to break off part of the cage and free his head. However, it was still quite tight around his neck. Was tightly connected."

After a few days, researchers from Georgia decided to take matters into their own hands with the help of the resort's head naturalist.

"Since it didn't seem like he would be able to remove the cage on his own and things were getting stuck in it, we were worried that he would get caught on something inside the water and if he couldn't get free," the Facebook post said. Then it will sink." , "For those reasons, we decided that humanitarian intervention is necessary."

After traveling to the Palmetto State and capturing the reptile, experts were able to remove the tomato cage from its head. This proved difficult, as the cage was located where the gator would normally become trapped.

"However, after several attempts, we were able to capture this 11' 2" male and safely remove it from the tomato cage, the UGA Coastal Ecology Lab reported. "Now that he's free, he can safely start living his best crocodile life."

It is not clear how the crocodile initially became entangled in the metal object. The UGA Coastal Ecology Lab believes the gator hit the tomato cage while swimming through a pipe.

"This is an excellent example of why it is so important to dispose of your waste properly," Labb said.

“This is one of many examples where an animal has suffered complications due to waste that was improperly disposed of.”

Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort expressed gratitude to the wildlife experts who saved the gator on Facebook, thanking them for "helping our beloved King Arthur."

Fox News Digital contacted the UGA Coastal Ecology Lab for comment.