CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
A base couple had a close encounter June 19 with a five-and-a-half foot long male alligator who wandered into Hunley Park base housing after several days of heavy rainfall.
Kyndal Wiggins, a receptionist with the Airman and Family Readiness Center here, spotted the reptile near her home and immediately phoned her husband, Senior Airman Brandon Wiggins, a corrections specialist at Naval Weapons Station Charleston with the 782nd Training Group, who was home at the time.
"When I first moved into base housing, people warned us that there have been sightings of alligators. I never thought I'd come across one, but I sure did," said Mrs. Wiggins. "It kind of startled me because I didn't see him at first when I was coming up on him."
She said the alligator looked like a skid mark on the side of the road until she came closer, realizing then it was something living.
The couple called security forces, and the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron customer service 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 NCO 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 Building 2000 area of the base. Sergeant Floyd said the new site will make a comfortable habitat for the animal.
Mrs. Wiggins home is located close to Dorchester Road and said she was surprised an alligator made into the housing development so far from the Ashley River located to the south.
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.
"Basically, how most alligators react is if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. But if you go toward them, they feel threatened and have to protect themselves," Sergeant Floyd said.
Any alligator sighting should be reported to the 437 CES customer service office at 963-2392.