Alligators are wearing little 'hats' in South Carolina. It's all part of a study

DECEMBER 30, 2019

by Mark Price

Gadgets that resemble little black hats are showing up on the heads of alligators in South Carolina.

They're actually GPS trackers.

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources posted an alert about the devices on Dec. 27, and revealed they're being attached as part of a joint study with Clemson University. The number of alligators involved was not released.

"That data will allow researchers to understand where these animals are spending their time and gain a better understanding of their habitat use over multiple seasons," state officials wrote on Facebook.

Multiple people who have seen the state's photos of the trackers have noted they look a bit comical attached to predators with 80 to 100 teeth.

"When I first saw this post, I swear I thought this gator had a mini top hat on ... Now I can't unsee it!" Shaun Dumont wrote on the wildlife department's Facebook page.

State officials didn't explain how the devices are attached, but suggested it's not painful. They also noted the gadgets are stuck on the gators' upper backs, not their heads, so any resemblance to a hat is coincidental.

"Each alligator is safely captured, has a tag attached to its back, and is then released," state officials wrote. "The process happens in the alligators' natural habitat and takes less than an hour to complete."

Alligators can get up to 14 feet long and weigh 1,000 pounds in South Carolina, according to state officials. The reptiles are found mostly in a diverse series of habitats along the Coastal Plain, including tidal marshes, swamps, rivers and lakes, Clemson University officials said in a report.

Researchers say the GPS trackers will help them "understand how landscape features affect habitat use and how their movement between habitats influences the accuracy of population estimates."

Read on

York County (PA) man has an emotional support alligator – via Herp Digest

John Pavoncello, by John Pavoncello, York Dispatch Jan. 23, 2019

For 2 minute video  and slide show, go to https://bit.ly/2Du1QEb

Wally is Joie Henney's emotional support animal, and loves to make public appearances. photo by John Pavoncello,

It's not every day that you see a 4½-foot-long alligator walking on a leash. However, if you live in York County, chances are you've seen Strinestown native Joie Henney and Wally.

Henney, 65, grew up on a farm but was never much of a dog person. He does, however, have a love of reptiles — especially poisonous ones — and has owned and rescued some deadly snakes, including Gaboon vipers.

"I like all these calm things," Henney said, describing his long love of snakes.

During a trip to Florida several years ago, Henney had the opportunity to visit Gatorland, where he got to see America's largest reptile up close.

In September 2016, a friend who was rescuing alligators from Walt Disney World asked Henney if he'd be interested in taking one. Disney World had removed more than 200 alligators during a 10-year period between May 2006 and August 2015. After a fatal attack on a 2-year-old boy in June 2016, the resort doubled its efforts to remove gators from its property.

While most were being harvested for their meat and leather, some, including Wally, were rescued.

Holly Armstrong, Community Life Enrichment Director, right, and Ron Snyder, 88, cuddle with Wally the emotional support alligator, Monday, January 14, 2019. photo by John A. Pavoncello 

Lap dog: At first Wally was aggressive and snapped at everything. He was a wild animal suddenly living in captivity, Henney explained. Each time Wally acted afraid or aggressive, Henney would pick up the then-foot-and-a-half gator and cuddle him.

Now 4½ feet and nearly 60 pounds, Wally thinks he's a lap dog, Henney said.

"He loves attention, (and) he loves people," he said during a recent visit to SpiriTrust Lutheran's Village at Sprenkle Drive. About a dozen seniors visited with Henney and Wally, some brave enough to rub Wally's head or even let him lie in their lap.

Recently Wally became the first American alligator to be licensed as an emotional support animal. Unlike service animals, which are limited to dogs and miniature horses as described in the Americans With Disabilities Act, pretty much any animal can be an emotional support animal. Henney decided to register Wally because of their public visits. 

Wally regularly accompanies Henney to stores such as Lowe's, Home Depot and Rutter's on the Susquehanna Trail in Strinestown. They also make public appearances at York Revolution games and at private events such as the one at SpiriTrust Lutheran

. 

Not good pets: Caring for the alligator can be difficult, Henney said.

"Alligators don't make good pets," he said. A 300-gallon landscaping pond complete with filter sits in Henney's living room. The water has to be changed every three days, because "it can stink pretty bad," Henney said.

And while it's legal in Pennsylvania to own alligators as pets, Henney is a strong advocate against it.

"We never place our rescues back into homes," said Henney. Rescued alligators are placed in zoos or other specialized facilities

.

Joie Henney of Strinestown recently certified his rescued American alligator Wally as an emotional support animal. Friday, January 18, 2019 photo by John A. Pavoncello 

Giving back: Wally's local fame has created a unique opportunity for Henney to give back to the community, he said. People who meet Wally tend to want to donate to provide care for him, but Henney said that if he couldn't afford to care for Wally himself he wouldn't have him.

So, he said, he uses Wally's donations to provide holiday meals for local families in need.

"We provided full Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to several families this year," said Henney, adding they will do the same at Easter.

Alligator caught on video eating shark off South Carolina coast - via Herp Digest

July 14, 2018

To see video go to 

https://fox2now.com/2018/07/14/alligator-caught-on-video-eating-shark-off-south-carolina-coast/

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – An alligator has been caught on video eating a small shark off the coast of South Carolina.

The Island Packet reported that Kristen Poillon captured the video, which shows a 7-foot alligator chomping on the bonnethead shark at Skull Creek.

The alligator was out of its normal habitat and swimming in the saltwater of Skull Creek, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway, according to the paper. Locals have reportedly given the alligator the name “Charlie.”

“He doesn’t seem aggressive,” Poillon told the Hilton Head Island Packet. “He mostly shows up when the fishing charter boats start back to their season because the eating is good for him off the dock when they clean the fish.”

Scientists believe encounters between sharks and alligators are becoming more frequent.

Brian Silliman, a Duke University ecologist, wrote about it in a study on alligators appearing in saltwater.

“It’s the old norm, the way it used to be before we pushed these species onto their last legs in hard-to-reach refuges. Now, they are returning,” he wrote.

Ancient South Carolina whale yields secrets to filter feeding's origins

Date:  June 29, 2017
Source:  Cell Press

Summary: The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived. And yet they feed almost exclusively on tiny crustaceans known as krill. The secret is in the baleen, a complex filter-feeding system that allows the enormous whales to strain huge volumes of saltwater, leaving only krill and other small organisms behind. Now, researchers who have described an extinct relative of baleen whales offer new insight into how baleen first evolved.  

Continued

35-year South Carolina alligator study uncovers mysteries about growth and reproduction

May 3, 2017 by Jonathan Veit

Research by wildlife biologists from Clemson University and the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center near Georgetown is shattering conventional scientific understanding about American alligator growth and reproduction.

For years, it was believed that American alligators continued growing in length until they died, what is called "indeterminate growth." But a 35-year study of a protected alligator population at the Yawkey Center on the South Carolina coast has found that male and female alligators exhibit "determinate growth." In other words, they stop growing at some point after they reach sexual maturity.

Additionally, females are reproductive far longer than previously thought, 46 years past the onset of sexual maturity in one case, the study found.

The study was performed by retired Yawkey Center manager and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Phil Wilkinson, Clemson University Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science wildlife biologist Thomas Rainwater and three colleagues with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The team published its findings in Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Wilkinson, whom Rainwater calls, "one of the grandfathers of South Carolina alligator research," began examining the Yawkey alligators with names like Truck Biter, Big Bertha, Cudjo, Grover and Bette Davis Eyes in 1979 as part of a population and nesting ecology study, making the Yawkey alligator study the longest known continuous alligator study in the world.

Read more at:

Orange-Hued Alligator Spotted in South Carolina

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | February 10, 2017 01:15pm ET 

A predatory beast with leathery orange skin is gallivanting through social media, sowing fear in its wake.

That's because there have been recent sightings of a tangerine-colored alligator in South Carolina. 

Earlier this week, members of a residential community in Hanahan, South Carolina, spotted an unusual sight near one of the retention ponds — an alligator with skin tinted an orange hue. Estimated to be 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) long, the apricot alligator was nicknamed "Trumpigator" by its human neighbors, local television newscast WCBD News 2 reported.

The carrot-colored crocodilian is most likely an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) — the only crocodilian native to South Carolina — which can live to be more than 60 years old and reach lengths of up to 13 feet (4 m), according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR).

Earlier this week, the gator was photographed basking on the bank near a pond, its bright orange skin standing out in sharp contrast to the patchy brown grass. Several Facebook commenters joked that the alligator must be a fan of the Tigers football team at Clemson University, South Carolina, which has an orange logo and uniforms.

But alligators don't paint themselves in pumpkin palettes to show sports allegiances or to look tanned for television cameras. So what might have turned this alligator the unexpected hue? One explanation might be rust, iron oxide, from a steel culvert where the alligator was hiding out during the winter, an SCDNR representative tweeted.

Read more 

Stranded 500-lb leatherback sea turtle rescued in South Carolina

By Harriet McLeodMarch 9, 2015 2:06 PM

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - An endangered 500-pound (230-kg) leatherback sea turtle was being treated at a South Carolina aquarium on Monday after wildlife officials made a rare rescue of the reptile found alive and stranded on a remote beach.

It is the first living leatherback turtle to be recovered in South Carolina and one of only a handful ever treated at rehabilitation facilities in the United States, said Jenna Cormany, a wildlife biologist with the state's Department of Natural Resources.

Continued ...

Sea turtles may suffer if S.C. grants erosion-control permit - Herp Digest

February 14, 2015 -By SARITA CHOUREY, SavannahNow.com

Threatened and endangered sea turtles may take the brunt of new erosion-control structures that property owners hope to build on Daufuskie Island’s shoreline.

But South Carolina’s natural resources department is urging other regulators to reject the request.

The Haig Point Club & Community Association wants permission to construct two new erosion control revetments and to build on four existing areas of erosion control. It would mean adding 95 feet of rip-rap on the northern end of Calibogue Sound and a 696-foot revetment on the southern end of the sound. The Beaufort County island stretches 8 square miles and sits between Tybee and Hilton Head islands.

The application has been on hold pending a response from the community association addressing the concerns of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

On Friday, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Jim Beasley said the Haig Point proposal is still under review.

Building hardened structures, or creating “armored beaches,” can worsen erosion seaward and adjacent to the structures, particularly on the downdrift side. The result is damage to the habitat of a variety of birds, turtles and other creatures.

“The construction of a new revetment along this undeveloped shoreline is not warranted and results in an unnecessary encroachment on sensitive public trust resources,” said Susan Davis, coastal environmental coordinator for the DNR in a letter to DHEC in December. “We are not opposed to the 95-foot revetment on the northern end or to the repair of existing revetments in areas where existing infrastructure is threatened.”

If the sea turtle nests are located seaward of structure, they’re also susceptible to washout, leaving poor nesting habitats and incubation areas of the beaches in front of existing armoring structures.

The structures can also prevent females from finding good nesting sites, leading to increased rates of the animals going back to the water without nesting, according to DNR.

Armoring can also shut sea turtles out of the upper regions of the dune system. That forces them to nest at lower elevation where the eggs can drown in water from tidal flooding. It can also upset the conditions that help determine the sex ratio of hatchlings, according to specific studies cited by DNR.

Davis said Friday that she had not received a response, directly from Haig Point or through the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

Haig Point isn’t the only community on Daufuskie looking to change the coastal environment to protect property values.

The Melrose Property Owners Association wants permission to undertake a beach renourishment project on the Calibogue Sound, facing the southern tip of Hilton Head Island.

The property owners association says the purpose is to reestablish the eroded beach and provide six to eight years of protection to upland property and structures during normal climate conditions.

They also claim the project would enhance the nesting habitat of sea turtles.

However, the District Engineer for the corps’ Charleston District has determined that the renourishment project is “likely to adversely affect” the loggerhead sea turtle, the piping plover, the West Indian manatee and the red knot. The corps is asking either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service — or both — to begin formally consulting on the species and any critical habitat that could be affected.

DHEC spokesman Cassandra Harris said the agency has not seen an increase in requests for erosion control devices along the beachfront on Daufuskie.

South Carolina Gets State Fossil Despite Creationist Pushback

By Megan Gannon, News Editor | May 21, 2014 09:40am ET

Thanks to the efforts of a history-obsessed third-grader, South Carolina now has a state fossil — the Columbian mammoth.

Opposition from creationist state legislators had stalled the initiative, but Gov. Nikki Haley made the state fossil official with her signature on Friday (May 16).

"That was history of South Carolina that would've been lost if I hadn't done something about it," 8-year-old Olivia McConnell told the Associated Press this week.

Read more

New Hammerhead Shark Species Found Off South Carolina

By Douglas Main, Staff Writer | November 08, 2013 01:17pm ET

When new species are found near populated areas, they are often small and inconspicuous, not, for example, a hammerhead shark.

But that's exactly what a team of researchers discovered along the coast of South Carolina. The new species looks virtually identical to the scalloped hammerhead, but is genetically distinct, and contains about 10 fewer vertebrae, or segments of backbone, new research shows.

The new species, named the Carolina hammerhead (Sphyrna gilbert), gives birth to shark "pups" in estuaries near the shore off the Carolinas, according to a study published in August in the journal Zootaxa.

To find the shark, scientists led by University of South Carolina fish expert Joe Quattro collected 80 young sharks that looked liked scalloped hammerheads. They then analyzed their DNA, and found that they were distinct from their scalloped cousins. Further analysis found more subtle differences; the new species is slightly smaller, for instance, according to the study. Of these 80 sharks, 54 of them belonged to the new species, the study noted.

Continued

Dead sperm whale found near Hunting Island

By MATT McNAB — mmcnab@beaufortgazette.com

A dying whale was found off the shores of Hunting Island Sunday, the second whale in more than a week found on the Beaufort County coast, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marine biologist said.

A pygmy sperm whale was spotted in a marsh area near the coast of Hunting Island stuck on an oyster bed Sunday morning, marine biologist Jessica Conway said.

The whale was alive when it got stuck, but died naturally once the tide had fallen, Conway said. Conway said she performed a necropsy at the site and took samples from the whale for testing, but no cause of death was immediately available.

Continued

SOUTH CAROLINA LIGER NAMED WORLD'S LARGEST FELINE

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records announced the latest edition of its book includes a 922-pound South Carolina liger dubbed the world's largest living feline.

Sara Wilcox, public relations and marketing executive for Guinness World Records North America, said Hercules the Myrtle Beach liger, a hybrid of a lion and a tiger, appears in the 2014 "Guinness Book of World Records" as the world's largest feline, weighing in at 922 pounds and measuring 131 inches long and 49 inches tall at his shoulder, The Sun News (Myrtle Beach) reported Friday.

Hercules lives at the Myrtle Beach Safari wildlife preserve's area known as TIGERS -- The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species.

"We just knew that the largest living cat probably was the liger," Wilcox said. "We have not measured a liger before ... We are aware of other ligers."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/14/SC-liger-named-worlds-largest-feline

New shark species discovered off SC coast

Scientists have discovered a new species of shark in the ocean off South Carolina and have named it for the region where it was found.

The “Carolina hammerhead,” thought to reach 11 feet long and weigh about 400 pounds, has been identified cruising the waters at Bull’s Bay north of Charleston, St. Helena Sound near Beaufort and in the Charleston harbor.

But biologists suspect these hammerheads occur worldwide, since evidence of them has been found in the past from Brazil to the Indian Ocean. The number of Carolina hammerheads is thought to be small.

“It is a distinct species,’’ said William “Trey” Driggers, a marine scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division.

Driggers, a 45-year-old Sumter native and Clemson University graduate, was among a team of scientists with NOAA, the University of South Carolina, the University of New Orleans and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources who made the discovery after more than a decade of research.

Much of the work was done in the laboratory of USC professor Joseph Quattro, he said. Veterinarians in Columbia also collaborated on the discovery.

Continued

Thousands of Dead Fish Wash Up On Pawleys Island

PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC (WLTX) --There is a mystery along the South Carolina coast.

Thousands of dead fish washed up on the beach at the south end of  Pawleys Island Tuesday afternoon.  

The fish are menhaden, and the SC Department of Natural Resources have been notified of the incident.  

Menhaden fish are a small, oily fish that are used for fish oil and its oil is also an ingredient in lipstick and they are also used for livestock feed. 

http://www.wltx.com/news/article/216791/2/Thousands-of-Dead-Fish-Wash-Up-On-Pawleys-Island

Some Drivers Intentionally Run Over Turtles, Clemson Student Finds During Experiment (VIDEO)

Posted: 12/27/2012 6:10 pm EST  |  Updated: 12/27/2012 10:33 pm EST

A Clemson University student was surprised by his findings this week after attempting to research the best way to ensure the safety of turtles trying to cross busy roadways.

Nathan Weaver, a 22-year-old senior in the School of Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences, was trying to figure our how to help the turtles in their risky endeavor, but instead ended up discovering the extent to which some drivers go out of their way to flatten the hapless reptiles, according to the Associated Press.

"It was a bit surprising. I've heard of people and from friends who knew people that ran over turtles. But to see it out here like this was a bit shocking," Weaver told the AP.

For his initial experiment, Weaver placed rubber turtles in the middle of a busy street near the Clemson campus in South Carolina and watched as seven out of 267 cars purposely crushed the fake turtles in the space of an hour.

Read more about the experiment here.

Weaver's observations are not necessarily new, however. In July, NASA employee Mark Rober documented his own, similar experiment measuring the rate motorists tried to run over rubber turtles, snakes and tarantulas planted on the roadway.

Of the 1,000 cars Rober watched go by, six percent of drivers went out of their way to try to hit the rubber animals, which were stationed safely on the shoulder, Gizmodo reports.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/drivers-intentionally-run-over-turtles-college-experiment_n_2371485.html

We just fancied a nibble: Hungry birds peck on a passing alligator (but luckily he didn't snap back)

Any food lover will tell you it's good to be open to different taste sensations, so who can blame these inquisitive birds for having a peck at a new dish.

However, when the delicacy is ferocious alligator and you are a thin-legged spoonbill it might be wise to let another diner take the first bite.

These incredible rare pictures capture the moment a flock of the beautiful pink-hued birds discovered the large reptile gliding through their watering hole.

The images of the Roseate breed spoonbills were taken at the Murrells Inlet in Huntington Beach State Park just metres from the home of American photographer Phil Lanoue.

According to Mr Lanoue the birds showed no fear as they cornered the alligator and began to tug at its tail.

The birds appeared to be intrigued by the stranger in the waters and followed the alligator around the marsh pond in South Carolina.

Continued:   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170900/Curious-spoonbill-birds-peck-ish--alligator-fortunately-unwanted-attention-didnt-make-deadly-reptile-snap.html?ito=feeds-newsxml