JEFFERSON CITY, MO (AP) -- Missouri Department of Conservation was quick to deny any connection to a four-foot alligator found in the Missouri River near Richmond on Saturday.

A highly-paid MDC spokesman said the critter was "most likely a young male that wandered into Missouri from South Dakota." That state has an over-abundance of rogue alligators that sometimes follow schools of silver carp down the Missouri River and its tributaries, he said.

"Alligators are highly territorial, especially the males, and younger males are simply forced to look for other places to live," he pointed out. "Studies show alligators can travel up to 80 miles in a single day. At that rate, one could go from the swamps around Rapid City to, just for instance, Richmond, MO., in a matter of 10 days or so."

MDC receives hundreds of alligator sighting reports from the public, but none of these is ever actually a gator, the spokesman said. "Usually these are either bobcats or clusters of armadilloes, which often form into large masses during mating season and somewhat resemble an alligator."

If anyone in Missouri ever did encounter a gator, they should "avoid eye contact and never carry cash." And if charged by an alligator, to make themselves "appear as large as possible OR assume the fetal position."