If you see a large green gator on 11th and Cherry, don’t be alarmed.

Joshua Smith wanted to make his nephew James Musick’s dreams come true, but sculpting his original request, a dinosaur, seemed a little too difficult. Smith told him the best he could do was an alligator.

After three and a half hours Sunday night, Smith had created his masterpiece, finished off with a green paint job courtesy of some food coloring and water in a spray bottle.

The plows left a huge pile of snow at the end of the street, so he had the perfect canvas to work with. Now that the snow has hardened, it looks like the gator will be around for a while, he said.

Smith said it’s been cool to see how popular the gator has been, from the comments on Facebook to families and kids coming by to see it and take photos with it.

“It spread like wildfire,” he said.

He said he’s seen dozens visit the alligator Tuesday.

This was the first time Smith has sculpted anything with snow, but said he may make it a tradition. If he gets good enough, maybe he will be able to craft a dinosaur in the future, he said.

Smith has made wood sculptures, but using snow is a different story. He used only a snow shovel for the project.

Musick was happy with how it turned out.

“It’s kinda like a dinosaur,” he said.