AUGUSTA CHRONCLE (Georgia) 21 May 06 Area alligators don't have that much bite (Rob Pavey )
A sign outside The Lake restaurant in Waynesboro, Ga., warns customers of alligators in Jones Lake.
There's been a lot of talk about alligators lately.
They've been killing joggers and swimmers in Florida, where an unprecedented three deaths occurred last week.
Yet the gators around Augusta don't seem as fearsome.
They're known to sun themselves on Riverwatch Parkway or gobble strings of bluegill dangling from boats in the Savannah River, but there haven't been any serious attacks on humans.
In fact, Georgia's Wildlife Resources Division has recorded only eight incidents statewide since recordkeeping began in the 1970s, and none were fatal.
"Every time there's a fatality in Florida that makes national news, the number of complaints here will escalate for at least two or three weeks," said Steve Ruckel, a state wildlife biologist who managed Georgia's alligator program for more than 20 years.
Does that mean people don't need to worry about our local gators?
"You always have to be careful," he said. "Most attacks involve gators over 8 feet long, a lot of incidents occur at night or at dusk, and a lot of times it involves alligators that people have fed, which makes them lose their fear of humans."
Although attacks on humans are rare, alligators will consume dogs and small mammals.
"Attacks on dogs are not uncommon," he said. "Unfortunately, gators don't know the difference between a dog and any other small mammal. We tell people with pets not to go close to the water."
In Florida, where the gator population is 1 million to 2 million, the state had just 17 fatal attacks in 58 years until last week.
Biologists characterize the three deaths as "unfortunate, unrelated coincidences."
One victim was a jogger found in a Broward County canal; one was snorkeling near central Florida's Lake George; and the third died in a drainage ditch north of St. Petersburg.
Ruckel said the media typically blow gator attacks out of proportion. "But I do have to admit it's very unusual to have three fatalities in one week," he said.
Georgia's gator population numbers from 100,000 to 200,000.
Georgia's few recorded attacks include one involving a state wildlife technician, Ruckel said. The employee was discussing alligators with a troop of Boy Scouts on Ossabaw Island in 1994.
"He was at a pond with big gators in it, and he crouched down at the shoreline and started grunting like a baby alligator - which attracts them - and splashed his hands in the water trying to call one over," Ruckel said.
What he didn't realize, however, is that a 11-foot gator lay submerged in the water just in front of him.
The enraged gator lurched out of the water and grabbed the man's arm all the way up to the shoulder. With scouts watching in horror, he poked and pushed the reptile trying to shake it loose.
Once the gator released the man, it took more than 70 stitches to close his wounds.
Other Georgia attacks include:
- A 15-year-old girl attacked in June 1993 while jogging at Sea Island. She apparently jumped over a gator, thinking it was a log, and it bit her.
- In August 1994, a golfer retrieving a golf ball at Jekyll Island was bitten by a submerged gator. The wound required 20 stitches.
- An alligator attacked an 8-year-old who was feeding ducks in a St. Mary's subdivision pond in 1996. The gator had illegally been fed by local residents, contributing the the problem. She needed 18 stitches.
- In May 2000, a 14-year-old boy was having a "mud fight" with siblings and reached into a marsh to get more mud. He was bitten by a 6-foot gator and received punctured arms and earlobes.
- A man wading in 4 feet of water while pulling a disabled boat to shore was bitten at Lake Seminole in June 2000, sustaining minor wounds on his hands and thigh.
Area alligators don't have that much bite