Newspaper Page Text
Page 4C
l Reporter
July 20, 2022
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Researchers look for ways to keep alligators fearful of people
Some 200,000-250,000 American alligators roam Georgia s waterways, swamps,
lakes and ponds, mostly below a line from Augusta through Macon to Columbus. (Photo
courtesy of Georgia Wildlife Resources Division)
H uman encounters
with alligators are
on the rise. There
are a number of
reasons for this, including
that both human and
alligator populations
are increasing and
we are encroaching
on traditional alliga
tor habitats.
While most of
these run-ins pose
no threat to people
or alligators, a small
fraction of them
end poorly for ga
tors and humans.
Realizing al
ligator/human encounters
will continue well into the
future wildlife biologists are
seeking nonlethal ways to
reduce the likelihood they
will occur.
Some 200,000-250,000
American alligators roam
the states waterways,
swamps, lakes and ponds
primarily below a line
extending from Augusta
through Macon to Colum
bus. However, the recent
report of an alligator being
found in Monroe County
clearly demonstrates they
sometimes venture north of
their historic range.
With so many alliga
tors living in such a wide
swath of the state, it is easy
to see why so many people
are fearful of meeting an
alligator when they venture
into the alligators watery
domain. This fear is fueled,
in part, by media coverage of
horrific alligator attacks.
One of the most horrify
ing involved
the attack of a
2-year-old at
Disney World.
Such inci
dences are ex
tremely rare in
Georgia. From
1980 through
May 2007, there
have been
only nine
cases of alliga
tors attacking
humans in the Peach State.
The lone fatality involved a
woman that was house-sit-
ting a home at The Landings
in Savannah in 2007. Six of
the events came as a result
of a person stepping on or
somehow making contact
with a submerged alligator.
Years ago the Georgia
Wildlife Resources Division
(WRD) initiated a program
to deal with nuisance alliga
tors. Nuisance alligators are
those that have ventured
outside of their range, have
been fed by humans or have
become so accustomed to
humans that they are no
longer afraid of them.
Since the public cannot le
gally catch or kill an alligator
without a permit, whenever
the WRD receives a report
of a nuisance alligator it
dispatches a licensed alliga
tor trapper to capture the
animal. Similar programs
have been established in
other states, such as Florida
and South Carolina.
Researchers are currently
exploring new ways to re
duce potentially dangerous
contacts between alligators
and humans. Ideally such a
strategy would keep humans
from suffering serious inju
ries and not require gators
to be sacrificed. One such
study is being conducted in
South Carolina.
The study leader is Tom
Murphy a veteran South
Carolina Department of
Natural Resources alligator
researcher. He has teamed
up with Anjelika Kidd-Mur-
phy a doctoral candidate at
Clemson University.
The inspiration for the
approach the two research
ers are investigating is based
on observations made by
Murphy over more than a
decade of trapping, tagging
and releasing countless al
ligators. During that time he
noticed that gators that he
and his cohorts had handled
on numerous occasions
became extremely skittish
and quickly fled when ap
proached by humans.
This has led to Murphy
and Kidd-Weaver to design
a study that will try to
determine if gators that have
been frequently handled by
humans are more apt to flee
humans than those alligators
that have not been handled
by humans.
So far when Murphy and
Kidd-Weaver approached
alligators living on Fripp
Island where they have not
been caught and released,
the researchers have noted
the gators were much more
tolerant of people. Prelimi
nary findings are promis
ing. However, more work
needs to be done before the
researchers can definitively
say this is the case.
If their research reveals
that alligators that have
been captured and released
are more inclined to flee
when they spot humans, it
will help biologists design
new approaches to reduc
ing interactions between
alligators and humans. This
will, in turn help reduce
the likelihood of humans
being injured or killed in an
encounter with alligators. In
addition, it would reduce the
need use lethal methods to
eliminate alligators that live
close to humans.
If you encounter an al
ligator in Monroe County,
contact the Georgia Game
Management Section at 706
595-4222.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, “A Journey
to Discovery,” is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth. net.
TERRY W. JOHNSON
Monroe County Rec Baseball U10
Pirates/ Caleb Reynolds: Canaan Reynolds, Devin Mathis,
James Arnold, Jacob Reedus, Caleb Boland, Dean Joseph,
Gibson Lewis, Luke Jones, Jameson Brown, Luke Johnson,
Carter Tyson, Dalton Powell, Aden Jones
Rockies/ Heath Matthews: Reed Ivey, Robert Higginbotham,
Journey Maurice, Alex Wilder, Jackson Matthews, Levi
Franklin, Elijah Ellis, Clinton Courson, Cole Murphy, Hudson
Norton, Dayson Fryar, Keegan Walters, Bentley Smith
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James Smith, Sutton Minter, Kenneth Fendley, David Fend-
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Sams, Josiah Barkley, Noah Bernier,
Cardinals/ Gerard Evans: Matthew Baswell, Joyce Mau
rice, Naveah Lamar, Caden Baker, Korbin Persinger, Liam
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Eli Rooks, Zamir Austin, Phillip Saunders, Brayden Hanson
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Ashton Hancock, Jacob Henderson, Kevin Fisher, Noah
Turnbow, Jayden Duggan, Isaiah Singletary, Ansh Patel,
Daniel Jones, Hudson Hitt, Kendall Ingram
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Cullin Tallent, Aiden DeBuc, Thomas NeSmith, Noah
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Colt Fortner, Wesley Bowen, James Connor, Emmeric
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