Posted on Sat, Jul. 15, 2006

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DNR creates alligator warning signs

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Wildlife officials have made new signs to help people understand that alligators are a normal part of South Carolina's swamps, ponds, drainage ditches, waterways and other areas along the coast.

The signs by the Department of Natural Resources provide information such as how a splash in the water signals food for alligators and how fast the reptiles can lunge.

The signs are free and were made for homeowners associations, park managers and others whose properties include natural habitats.

"The signs help educate the public they live in an area where alligators are prevalent," DNR spokeswoman Pris Wright said. "Pulling one of them out of a pond does not mean there won't be any more."

There have been fewer than a dozen reported alligator attacks on humans in South Carolina in the nearly 30 years records have been kept and most were provoked by people trying to feed or catch one of the reptiles.