Here's a "Gator Update" from the Pond-a-rosa of Myrtle Beach...
Yep, the 'little booger' is still in the pond...saw him again at dusk last nite. He's cute, and curious, and no real threat yet. He's not even 2' long from tip to tail, but still looks fierce...and he barks. I'll get some photos of him soon.
Talked on the phone with a Biologist with the SC DNR, he's sending me a permit with a tag that'll allow me to take care of him legally. Looking at the latest
SC DNR press release, they have a "Private Lands Permit Program" that gives landowners some leeway in handling nuisance alligators, although I've noticed that while they beat around the bush and never outright say it, to remove a nuisance alligator is to kill it.
They do specifically say that alligators cannot be relocated. And from my discussion with the State Biologist, I take that to mean that due to costs in resources and manpower, relocating alligators is not a option that the SC DNR does when called to attend to a nuisance alligator.
According to the biologist, he,(or she) is a young juvenile just out on its own, a yearling, looking for a safe pool away from the river, and away from bigger 'gators. He's no threat to anything larger than small fish or frogs, and it'll be years before he'd be big enough to threaten dogs or people. That's not to say I'm cotton to the idea of him staying in the pond. As much as I'm down there, and my dog is down there, he'll eventually lose his fear of me or anybody else and eventually become a threat. He may stay a guest for a season, but eventually I'd have to take harsh action. Better to catch him with a dip net now as a baby, than with a rifle shot as a larger juvenile.
In the end, it's my discresion what I do with that alligator, but if I intend to catch him and put him somewhere else, or outright kill him, I just better have that permit.
I wish Steve Irwin was still alive...
ConwayBob