Fatal Alligator Attack Occurred Over The Weekend At South Carolina Beach
A simple walk with her dog turned into a tragic, fatal alligator attack for a South Carolina woman. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office reports that the incident took place around 9:30 AM on the Fourth of July on Hilton Head Island. Their office responded to a call about a potential attack by a gator in the Spanish Wells community. When they arrived they found the 69-year-old woman unresponsive at the edge of a lagoon. The lagoon was part of a golf course in the community. The gator was sighted and actually came to guard the woman’s body. That’s a chilling thought. They were able to relocate the gator and recover the woman’s body, who was pronounced deceased.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office says that this is the second fatal alligator attack in the South Carolina region in the past year. A family member who has a place north of Myrtle Beach on a golf course in Cherry Grove mentioned to me he recently saw an alligator there. This was the first gator he had seen after owning the house for more than fifteen years. While not uncommon in South Carolina and especially near the coast, alligators can be deadly. Commenters on the Facebook post (above) also mention that there seem to be more gator sightings this year. The alligators also seem to be more aggressive. Fits News reports she was walking her dog, which is not mentioned in the Facebook post.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources recommends the following precautions to avoid alligators:
- Never feed alligators
- Avoid swimming or playing in areas known to harbor alligators
- Keep pets out of the water if alligators are present
- Don’t approach an alligator, keep your distance and leave them alone
Finally, they advise that if you come across an alligator in a place where it “cannot reasonably be expected to get back to the water without posing a risk to itself or to others, or is in a location that presents an immediate hazard, such as a road, school, pool, parking lot, etc.,” you should contact SCDNR at 1-800-922-5431. Do not under any circumstances ever attempt to capture or relocated an alligator by yourself.
What Animals Might You See On the Coast of South Carolina?
