Posted on 09/16/2007 6:11:13 PM PDT by The Game Hen
MONCKS CORNER A 12-foot alligator bit off and swallowed a mans arm this afternoon in Lake Moultrie.
Department of Natural Resource officers then shot the 600-pound gator and retrieved the Summerville mans arm from its belly, DNR officers and witnesses said.
Doctors at the Medical University are trying to reattach the mans arm.
Witnesses say Bill Hedden, 59, was snorkeling in the lake at the Short Stay Navy Outdoor Recreation Area when the gator attacked around 3:45 p.m.
DNR officers were called and shot the gator, then cut open its belly where they found the arm.
A group of people attending a Filipino religious gathering at the park offered their cooler and ice so the arm could be stored.
The man was airlifted to MUSC while an ambulance transported the arm to the hospital. A DNR officer escorted the ambulance.
Recently I heard how tourists consider illegal gator feeding an entertainment option here in Charleston. When their trips are over, the locals have to deal with the very fearless and dangerous reptiles left behind.
I didn’t realize there are so many gators in SC. My brother in law and his family have lived in Summerville for decades and we have visited them often, but I have never seen a gator around there. Must be because I haven’t been at the right places at the right time I suppose. How much farther up the coast do they live?
I have seen a few in the Black River, just about 10 mi west of Georgetown, SC. One 10ft gator that had been shot (and a couple of guys were hauling away down river), and many smaller ones.
I saw a huge one (>12 ft) just south of Winyah Bay in teh intracoastal waterway. That is ~60 mi. norh of the Charleston Harbor.
Of course, for every gator you see, there are 3 that you do not.
That idiot shouldnt have been snorkeling in that part of the lake anyways there are always alligators there and what the hell was he doing snorkeling in a swamp anyways?
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