LEDGER-ENQUIRER (Columbus, Georgia) 13 June 04 Gator etiquette - Despite hunting season, area gators still mostly off limits (Bryan Brasher)
For decades, local outdoorsmen watched anxiously from afar as the alligator population grew steadily across the Chattahoochee Valley.
They wanted to hunt them. They wanted to eat them. But the law said leave them alone.
Now the law has changed -- but only a little.
Georgia held its first alligator hunting season last year and recently approved widely expanded regulations for a second season to be held Sept. 11-26. Three hundred permits will be issued to hunt alligators in 40 counties this year, up from 180 permits in 13 counties during 2003.
Still, don't let the relaxed restrictions fool you. The large, toothy reptiles are off limits 349 days a year in Georgia and year round in Alabama -- and conservation officials take a dim view of those who disturb gators outside the law.
"Killing or possessing an alligator out of season or without a permit during the season in Georgia is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $500 and/or imprisonment for up to 12 months," said John Bowers of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. "If you take any kind of game out of season or any protected animal, you're poaching -- and poachers are criminals."
In Alabama, the act of illegally killing or possessing an alligator is a Class C felony -- as three Pittsview, Ala., residents recently learned the hard way.
A Russell County grand jury indicted Randall Wayne Martin, Earl Davis and Ray Charles Duncan last month for illegally "taking or possessing an alligator." Davis pled guilty last week to the lesser charge of "attempting to possess an alligator" and will be sentenced Aug. 19. That charge is a Class A misdemeanor that carries a punishment of one day to one year in jail plus a $500 fine and court costs.
Martin and Duncan are expected to enter their pleas next week.
According to conservation officer Mark Jolly, who made the case against Martin, Davis and Duncan, the men intentionally hunted and killed the alligator "for its meat and so they could brag about it." But acts of poaching aren't the only thing that get people in trouble over alligators.
It's also illegal to catch and keep a live alligator as a pet. It's illegal to feed an alligator. It's even illegal to kill an alligator you find in your backyard.
"We get a lot of calls from people who have found alligators on their property," Jolly said. "A lot of times the alligator is gone before we even get there. That's what we tell people -- leave them alone because most of the time, they're just in transit. They're passing through on their way to another location."
Even when alligators do set up permanent residence on someone's property, Jolly said he tries to council the homeowners on the benefits of having gators around. If all else fails and an alligator needs to be removed, there are licensed nuisance trappers in Georgia and Alabama who can handle the job legally -- and sometimes without harming the gator.
"Alligators can be a big plus for a pond because they eat snakes and turtles," Jolly said. "And we always try to make people understand that having wildlife on your property is never a bad thing. But certainly, if an alligator needs to be removed, people shouldn't handle it themselves. They should give us a call."
Alabama and Georgia residents who have trouble with alligators on their property are encouraged to call their local sheriff's department. Anyone with information on an alligator that has been taken illegally should call (800) 241-4113 in Georgia or (800) 272-4263 in Alabama.
Despite hunting season, area gators still mostly off limits