Two more alligators reported wandering South Carolina beaches as vacationers look on

Vacationers on Kiawah Island reported more out-of-place alligators on beaches this week, an occurrence some have linked to the absence of human activity during COVID-19 lockdowns.

The latest incident involved an 8-foot gator captured Tuesday morning near the Windswept Villas at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

Three days earlier, a juvenile alligator was spotted in the surf near The Ocean Course, according to social media reports. What became of it has not been reported.

Both sightings come just over a month after a woman was killed by an alligator that had lived 20 years in one of the island’s ponds, officials told McClatchy News last month.

Rod Buscher recorded video of the Tuesday incident, showing three men struggling on the beach to get the large alligator under control.

“We’ve been coming to Kiawah since 1995 and we’ve never seen a gator on the beach until this week,“ Buscher told McClatchy News.

“I don’t know why all of a sudden. With COVID-19, the pressure has been off and animals all over the world are reacting differently, coming out in big numbers, including in national parks. My wife, Melanie, saw one in the surf Saturday, a young one. She said it looked disoriented.”

Reports have surfaced nationwide of typically shy wildlife taking over streets, parks and beaches while humans were forced to stay indoors due to mandatory stay-at-home orders in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The Town of Kiawah Island reported on April 25 that a young gator had to be captured on one of its beaches and relocated to a less public spot.

Similar alligator intrusions have been reported elsewhere along the South Carolina coast, including video posted in April of a gator casually strolling amid closed shops at Myrtle Beach’s Barefoot Landing.

Buscher lives in Colorado, but has a vacation home on the island. He says anyone who spends time there is accustomed to alligators on the golf course — but not on the beaches.

”Alligators never hurt anyone on a golf course, to my knowledge,” he said. “The wildlife is one of the reasons we love Kiawah Island. I went to dinner once and came out (of the restaurant) to find a 4 to 5 foot corn snake wrapped around my steering wheel. My wife thinks it was hiding in my golf bag.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 3:16 PM.