COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina wildlife officials said while investigating two men pouring beer into an alligator’s mouth was something new for them, people harassing alligators in the state is not unusual.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources wrote 143 tickets between January 2012 and March 2017 for violations involving alligators.
The charges include molesting, feeding or illegally possessing an alligator, violating alligator permit restrictions or taking an alligator without a nuisance tag, out of season or illegally, DNR spokesman David Lucas told The Island Packet of Hilton Head (https://bit.ly/2svQgAr ).
Alligators are federally protected animals and it’s illegal to feed or capture them under state law.
DNR most frequently deals with people feeding alligators, which can lead to the animals becoming complacent with humans or even seeking them out for food. Those aggressive alligators sometimes don’t survive, Lucas said.
“You often see the phrase ’A fed alligator is a dead alligator,’ ” Lucas said. “That’s absolutely true.”
DNR officers issued tickets against two men last month after photos surfaced on social media of beer being poured down a juvenile alligator’s throat.
The men said they grabbed the alligator as it crossed the road and released it after taking the pictures, authorities said.
The men were charged with harassing wildlife, a misdemeanor charge which carries a maximum fine of $300.
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Information from: The Island Packet, https://www.islandpacket.com
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