Fines will soon be much higher for folks who decide that it’s cute to feed gators here in South Carolina. A bill increasing the penalties for bothering or feeding an alligator in South Carolina has unanimously passed the state House.
The bill would allow a $500 to $1,000 fine for people who “feed, entice, or molest” gators here in South Carolina. The current fines are $100 to $150.
The House unanimously approved the bill, which now heads for the Senate.
The bill was proposed and written after a Facebook post from 2020 showed patrons at a Hilton Head Island mini golf course sitting on top of a restrained alligator and riding it after a crew had removed it from a nearby retaining pond. The alligator was later euthanized under state policy.
While that was a pretty stupid thing for them to do, it doesn’t change the fact that gators are everywhere here in Beaufort and the sea islands.
On local golf courses, beaches, in the marshes, practically anywhere and everywhere there is water…gators and locals cross paths quite often.
Because alligators control their body temperature by basking in the sun, they may be easily observed. However, you need to keep your distance if you see one. And, never feed alligators because it is both dangerous AND illegal.
In fact, help us let visiting tourists know this and that feeding them is illegal in our state. Alligators fed by humans will eventually lose their natural fear of us and this could bring on some serious problems.
See photos of local Beaufort gators here.
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