‘I hope never to run into that gator.’ Neighbors react to SC gator swallowing another gator
A South Carolina alligator went viral for swallowing another (6-foot-long!!!) gator, but the big gator is not likely to be evicted from its neighborhood anytime soon.
While humans eating other humans is super illegal, gators eating other gators is well ... not that shocking, unlike the online world’s collective reaction to seeing it on video.
Georgetown County, where our cannibalistic gator was found, is no stranger to gators. Bike trails and parks in the area have warning signs scattered around. Just this week, a gator was spotted lazing in the inlet near a popular bike trail. It lay about 6 feet below a wooden walkway on the Waccamaw Neck Bike Trail, which runs through Huntington Beach State Park.
Georgetown County spokeswoman Jackie Broach said she was not aware of any calls or concerns about the hungry gator captured in the viral video, which was posted on social media by Taylor Soper. But Broach does have some personal thoughts on the matter.
“I hope never to run into that gator!” Broach said in an email. “It does serve as a good reminder to the public, however, that gators are very common in this area, and people need to be aware when they’re out on the water (or even the golf course). We get lots of visitors to our county who may not realize that gators are prevalent here.”
Broach wasn’t the only person who felt a little creeped out by the gator. When asked on Facebook about the Big One, locals asked where the video was taken so they could avoid the area. (Apologies, but we cannot tell you, so as to prevent gator hunters from heading out on a potentially dangerous hunt.)
“Leave it alone and stay away from the water,” Lori Ceplecha-Procopio said on Facebook.
Others wondered if they might have spotted Mr. Big (or Mrs. Big) before.
“It’s not the same area that had the big gator walking down the street in the middle of the neighborhood is it?” Terry Costy Stapert said on Facebook.
If you find yourself like Taylor Soper’s family, stumbling across a extra-hungry, cannibalistic gator (or a gator in general) and happen to be worried for your safety, there are some numbers you can call. All of them direct to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which handles such things.
- Charleston: (843) 953-9856 — Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties
Columbia: (803) 734-3898 — Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Lexington, Orangeburg and Richland counties
- Georgetown and Myrtle Beach: (843) 546-6062 — Darlington, Dillon, Clarendon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Kershaw, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Sumter and Williamsburg counties
- Hilton Head: (803) 625-3569 — Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties
- After Hours: Call Operation Game Thief (coolest name) at 1-800-922-5431
- Emergencies: 911
(Although, we do wonder whether a gator that has just consumed a fellow member of its species really presents that much of a hazard. Would you move very fast after eating that much?)
We asked if our currently-famous gator-muncher would be removed from its neighborhood. For now, the answer is no.
“I can’t speak to the specific situation/location in the video, but generally speaking, nuisance or aggressive alligators are not relocated from one location to another,” Department of Natural Resources spokesman David Lucas said in an email. “When removed is called for, they are typically euthanized as humanely as possible.”
Lucas did add, however, that his department is happy to chat with the property owner about whether Mr. Big needs to be removed.
“That said, it’s worth noting that alligators fighting or even eating one another in their natural habitat is not unusual behavior for this species and does not – in and of itself – indicate anything one way or another about whether a particular animal would be aggressive towards humans or not,” Lucas said. “Adult alligators are known to eat other (typically smaller) alligators.”
The Department of Natural Resources also has this lovely definition of alligators, for your convenience:
Alligators are carnivorous and prey on any animal that is available. Juvenile alligators (less than 4 feet) eat crustaceans, snails, and small fish. Sub-adults (4 to 6 feet) eat fish, crustaceans, small mammals, and birds. Adults (greater than 6 feet) eat fish, mammals, turtles, birds, and other alligators.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 10:13 AM.
