JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Security Forces members were surprised to encounter a six-foot-long male alligator May 24 who wandered into Hunley Park near base housing after several days of heavy rainfall.
Staff Sgt. Jesse Long and Officer Corey Harvey were on a routine patrol at 6 a.m. when they came across the reptile on the corner of West Virginia and Michigan Ave., just behind base housing.
They promptly called the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron customer service, who dispatched base entomologists to relocate the animal. The entomology office trains specifically for situations involving problem pests, rodents and wildlife.
The alligator was likely on a search for a mate, said Staff Sgt. Hiram Floyd, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron entomology office here who was at the scene. Mating season is between May and June, and exercising caution with the alligators, as always, is crucial.
"We put safety first with any alligator call," he said.
During the capture, entomologists first allowed the alligator to tire himself attempting to escape an animal control pole, Sergeant Floyd said. After binding its legs, the alligator was relocated to swamplands beyond the Bldg. 2000 area of the base. Sergeant Floyd said the new site will make a comfortable habitat for the animal.
Anna Tarter, a biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said pools of rainwater in wooded areas closer to the housing could encourage breeding, and smaller alligators are often forced out by larger ones, sending them to search for mates elsewhere.
According to SCDNR, alligators less than six feet are naturally fearful of people and generally not capable of eating anything larger than a small turtle.
Nonetheless, the SCDNR fully upholds the federal protection of all alligators, said Ms. Tarter. Feeding, harassing, the unlawful killing or taking of any alligator can result in up to a $2,000 fine or jail time.
"Be vigilant," Sergeant Floyed advises, "if you see an alligator, don't approach it and try to stay as far away from it as you can. If you go toward them, they feel threatened and have to protect themselves."
Any alligator sighting should be reported to the 437 CES customer service office at 963-2392.