‘See Ya Later!’ Billy Horschel’s Viral Alligator Encounter Prompts Praise and Gift From PETA
For Immediate Release:
February 28, 2025
Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382
PGA Tour veteran Billy Horschel is the coolest clubber on the course in PETA’s eyes after he gently shooed a wandering alligator off the green on Thursday. The alligator began crossing the course near hole number 6 as Horschel was putting. After a police officer unsuccessfully tried to scare the animal away, Horschel approached and lightly tapped the alligator with a club, causing them to turn and hurry back to a nearby pond. PETA is sending Horschel delicious vegan chocolate alligators in thanks for his kind action.
“Yeah, I’m not afraid of gators,” Horschel told GOLF.com. “Listen, as I tell most people, I said, they’re more afraid of you. The majority of the time they’re only going to come after you during mating season where they’re a little aggressive and then if you’re around their nest when they’ve got some eggs.”
“Billy Horschel’s kindness toward one of the most misunderstood and maligned animals on the planet is empathy in action and deserves a round of polite, restrained applause,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA urges everyone to follow in his cleats by always treating wildlife with respect.”
American alligators are highly intelligent and have been documented using small sticks as tools to lure in birds looking for nesting materials. Females are devoted mothers who gently carry their babies in their mouths and protect them for several years after they hatch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
