Headless alligator found in SC creek. It was removed for a homeowner’s association
Update: State officials Wednesday said a wildlife control operator killed the alligator legally for a homeowner’s association in the Mount Pleasant area, according to a press release. The operator contacted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources after seeing the media coverage, the department said. DNR said the person was cooperative with the investigating officer. The department issued the person a ticket for littering and a warning for not following regulations for removing nuisance alligators.
A beheaded, tailless alligator washed up into the reeds near a boat launch in Mount Pleasant Sunday, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources said.
“There’s no telling where it was dumped,” DNR’s David Lucas told McClatchy. The currents and tides in the creek pushed it to the Shem Creek boat landing, he said.
Someone found the gator floating near the boat landing and the photo was posted to Facebook, he said.
Lucas said DNR is investigating who killed the alligator.
“It is against the law to take an alligator out of season,” he said.
If caught, the poacher could face fines and possible jail time.
“This is a serious thing if they get caught,” Lucas said.
He said alligator hunters will typically take the tail for meat and the head as a trophy. Poaching alligators out of season “happens occasionally,” Lucas said.
”Spring typically sees an uptick in ‘nuisance gator’ calls, that can be taken under a permit, so that is a possibility as well,” Lucas said in a follow-up email. “The gator could have been legally taken but illegally disposed of.”
South Carolina has a lottery for alligator hunting season, which typically runs September to October, according to DNR.
This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 1:01 PM.
