What you need to know about Hilton Head alligators/removal policies after fatal attack
Should Hilton Head Island be worried about the alligator population?
After the tragic death of Cassandra Cline on Monday, Hilton Head Island residents have raised questions about whether something should be done to prevent future incidents.
Cline, a 45-year-old teacher, died after an alligator pulled her and her dog into a lagoon in the private community of Sea Pines. She was walking “at the water’s edge,” at the time of the attack, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) Wildlife Regional Coordinator Sam Chappelear told the Island Packet.
It was the first fatal alligator attack on Hilton Head and the second alligator-related death in South Carolina since the state began keeping records in 1976, SCDNR officials said this week.
The attack in Sea Pines has sparked debate among locals about what, if anything, to do about local alligator populations. Officials from Sea Pines, Hilton Head Plantation, and Indigo Run reported an increase in alligator-related inquiries. Several gated communities, including Sea Pines, have sent safety information on alligators to residents in the days following the attack.
Here are seven things Hilton Head tourists and locals need to know about alligator attacks, removal and safety.
Alligator attacks are becoming more common — but are still very rare.
While fatal alligator attacks are extremely rare, experts say it’s becoming more common, Time Magazine reported this week. In Florida, where a woman was killed while walking her dogs in June, non-fatal attacks have increased also.
Between 1988 and 1999, Florida averaged around one attack every three years, compared to an average of seven attacks per year between 2000 and 2017, Inside Science reported.
Scientists at the University of Florida blame humans for this, Time reported.
“People building homes where alligators live have caused the increase in attacks,” Mazzotti, a wildlife expert with the University of Florida, told Time.
Still, attacks remain very rare in both South Carolina and Florida.
Between 1976 and 2017, South Carolina only recorded 20 attacks total, Jay Butfiloski, a SCDNR wildlife biologist, previously told the Island Packet.
Only ten people between 1999 and 2015 were killed by alligators nationwide, according to the CDC. By comparison, between 7,000–8,000 people per year are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States, and roughly five of those people die each year.
There are roughly 100,000 alligators in South Carolina, the Washington Post reported. The American alligator species is what scientists call “one of the first endangered species success stories.” They were nearly extinct in the 1950s and made a full population recovery after three decades of conservation efforts, the Post reported.
Killing all alligators isn’t a solution, either
“I’ve seen some outpourings [this week] of ‘we should kill every alligator,’ and that’s not going to happen,” Peter Kristian, manager at Hilton Head Plantation, told the Island Packet.
In the Lowcountry, alligators are considered a “keystone species” that plays a critical role in balancing the ecosystem, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The prehistoric predators dig large burrows that fish, birds, turtles, and several other species depend on for breeding and survival.
“If alligators are removed from their native ecosystem, it would affect countless other species,” according to the National Wildlife Federation
You can’t just move them somewhere less populated, either.
Robert Rini, a Hilton Head real estate agent, suggested on Facebook this week that Hilton Head change its alligator policy and advocated for the removal “of all alligators that are over five feet.”
Rini said that alligators of a certain size should be relocated off the island to a safer place away from humans and gated communities. Rini said that he lives in Wexford where pet fences are not allowed, making it difficult for property owners to protect backyards from roaming alligators.
“I’m not trying to be anti-animals,” Rini told the Island Packet.” I’m trying to save them. Now a lot of people will complain about alligators, and they will be tied up and shot.”
David Lucas, spokesperson for SCDNR, said that moving alligators would just create safety hazards elsewhere.
“Alligators will travel miles, no matter where you move them, and find their way home,” Lucas previously told the Island Packet. “So relocating a problematic alligator is really just moving the problem around.”
There’s no one-size-fits-all alligator policy in Hilton Head gated communities, either.
Although bigger alligators can seem scarier to dog walkers or pedestrians, none of the large gated communities on Hilton Head have a “standard size” for determining if an alligator is considered dangerous to humans.
Managers from Sea Pines, Hilton Head Plantation, Palmetto Dunes and Indigo Run told the Island Packet their security teams all use “behavior analysis” in order to determine if a creature is threatening. Whether the alligator is two feet or twelve feet long, aggressive behavior like snapping can be grounds for a call to SCDNR.
Kristian said that security officers respond to calls about alligators “almost every day,” but if the officers do not find the creature’s behavior threatening, they will “escort it back to the nearest lagoon.”
In Indigo run, manager Chip Munday said security staff is trained to assess behavior of animals that end up in pools or garages. Munday said once security officers approach alligators “they mostly scurry back into the lagoon.”
However, security staff without a permit are not allowed to touch alligators. Munday said in Indigo Run officers rely on SCDNR and Critter Management to move the alligators within the property or remove them..
In gated communities, some alligators can be relocated.
Alligators found to be non-aggressive can be moved by SCDNR, or a contractor with a permit, to a nearby lagoon or out of a property owner’s garage and back where they came from.
Andrew Schumacher, the CEO of Palmetto Dunes, said it’s rare to relocate alligators within his gated community, but it does happen.
“Alligators can be relocated only within Palmetto Dunes property. This is typically not done, as they often return to the same area,” Schumacher said.
At Hilton Head Plantation, Kristian said that alligators are “escorted” using lasso sticks or restraints. The community was warned by SCDNR earlier this summer for touching nuisance alligators without a permit.
What happens to alligators when you call SCDNR?
SCDNR gets between 1,300-1,500 complaints about alligators every year, Lucas told the Island Packet.
“Most of these are from tourists who aren’t educated about alligators,” Lucas said. “They will call us just when they see an alligator in a pond.”
Only about 300 of those alligators are determined to be a nuisance animals, he said.
Lucas said agents consider the size, level of aggression and distance the alligator traveled, among other factors, when determining whether the alligator should be killed.
SCDNR defines a nuisance alligator as any alligator that “exhibits aggressive behavior, specifically one that has been fed by humans, or any alligator that has a rehabilitating injury.”
Agents also consider their safety, Lucas said, and the risk of moving an alligator of large size. Agents who kill the alligators are allowed to harvest the meat and hide at a DHEC-approved facility and keep the money.
In the Lowcountry, roughly 100 alligators are ruled as “nuisance alligators” every year.
“Of all those calls, only about five alligators are relocated,” Lucas said.
In South Carolina, it’s illegal to relocate or remove an alligator without a permit. Even with one, it’s illegal to transport an alligator from one property to another, which is why SCDNR rarely relocates nuisance alligators, Lucas said.
SCDNR officials urge the public to keep its distance from alligators and never feed them. If you see an aggressive or dangerous alligator in Beaufort County, contact a SCDNR official at (803) 625-3569.
Never feed or go near an alligator.
In the days following the attack in Sea Pines, many gated communities have sent special information bulletins to residents regarding alligator safety.
In Sea Pines, Community Services Associates (CSA), sent out a bulletin that warned residents, “do not approach alligators, no matter how big or small.” Sea Pines CSA president Bret Martin said he thinks that education of property owners and renters is important for preventing any future incidents.
Sea Pines CSA told residents in an email that “alligators inhabit our area and they do live in Sea Pines, assume every body of water could contain an alligator” and South Carolina law prohibits feeding or enticing alligators.
Lucas urges this is one of the biggest takeaways when it comes to alligator safety in the Lowcountry.
“Feeding alligators can quickly make them dangerous to people,” Lucas told the Island Packet earlier this week. He said once people do this, the alligators will start associating people with food and be more likely to approach them.
This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 2:26 PM with the headline "What you need to know about Hilton Head alligators/removal policies after fatal attack."