Alligator hunting season is over in South Carolina, which may be good news for one animal spotted in Myrtle Beach. Two men who work near Coastal Grand mall say they're concerned because a gator living in a pond nearby has become aggressive.
Just off Seaboard Street in downtown Myrtle Beach, you'll find a business called Cartridge World. It's next to a pond where you'll find an alligator. Two men who work at the Cartridge World store say most of the time, the alligator that's made its home here is pretty docile, but recently it has become aggressive.
Thursday, the reptile leapt out of the water and chased Fred Berhalter up an embankment. "I took off running and I stopped and I looked, and Chad said, 'Don't stop, he's right behind you.' And I looked behind me. He had his mouth open. I kept on going."
Berhalter and store manager Chad Hershberger say they're not really scared of the gator, but they keep their distance. Not so for other folks who are more curious. "They'll stop on the road, see him laying out, getting sun. They'll come back here, get pictures of him and throw food to him and all kinds of crazy stuff," Chad said.
The guys at Cartridge World say the alligator isn't really aggressive as long as nobody bothers him. So this isn't really a gator problem. This is a people problem. One group of people lured the animal out of the water by tossing him a piece of chicken attached to a rope. "They pulled him up on shore and they were beating on him with sticks and hunks of wood," Fred said.
Fred and Chad want to see something done soon, because kids go fishing in the pond and someone could get hurt. "As of now, he seems to be ok, but if they keep tormenting him, who knows what's gonna happen?" Chad asked.
The men would like to see the gator relocated to a new pond far away, where he can live in peace.
Under South Carolina law, disturbing wildlife carries a fine of up to $200 and 30 days in jail.
