So gator-hunting season opens tomorrow here in South Carolina.
I’m not making it up.
Nor am I making up the fact that the state Department of Natural Resources “Alligator Management Program” website includes the phrase “gatorgonnagitit.” Yes, that’s “git” with an i.
Not that I don’t see the reason for hunting them, mind you. Here’s a link to a story about an alligator attack that happened almost a year ago hereabouts. Be warned, the pictures are a bit graphic — especially the one with the 12-foot alligator happily swimming around with a man’s arm in his mouth.
Makes me think of Beowulf for some reason.
Anyway, the story is pretty amazing. The gator eventually swallowed the arm, but DNR officials quickly found the 600-pound beast, killed it, gutted it, and retrieved the appendage. Alas, it could not be reattached. Still, it’s remarkable this fellow, who’d been snorkeling in Lake Moultrie, actually survived:
Still wearing his diving mask and grasping his shoulder socket to slow the loss of blood, Hedden stumbled into a group of people picnicking at the lake.
The group, mostly members of the Bicol Assocation of Charleston, of group of Filipino Roman Catholics, included five nurses who responded immediately with primary emergency treatment including ice and improvised bandages to stop the bleeding.
Talk about a lucky coincidence!