Philip Schrader drives his golf cart through the Palmetto Hall course, where he works as a ranger. For five seasons he’s ensured Hilton Head players follow rules and etiquette, but he’s never seen something as impolite as he did this month: an alligator eating another alligator.
Schrader estimated that the larger alligator was around 10 feet long and the smaller was about 5 feet long. He first saw the pair on Feb. 13 around noon and a second time about two hours later in the same position, with the smaller alligator still alive.
“He had a good grip on him in his mouth,” Schrader said. “It didn’t look like there was a struggle or anything.”
Alligator cannibalism isn’t civil, but it’s not uncommon either, according to Morgan Hart, the alligator project leader for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Many other animals are also cannibals; for example, foxes and bobcats, but alligators are more visible because they live in close quarters with humans, especially on Hilton Head. It’s a reminder that Beaufort County residents co-exist with apex predators that will attack just about anything, including other alligators and, in three local fatalities within five years, humans.
Hart guessed that the larger alligator was male and anywhere from 25 to 70 years old based on its size because female alligators only reach about 9 feet. Since the smaller alligator wasn’t a juvenile, it’s likely “there was something else going on other than just predation.”
It’s possible the smaller alligator was injured, making for an easy meal, or it challenged the larger alligator for territory, forcing a fight, according to Hart.
“Usually there’s a pretty big difference in size,” Hart said, explaining that adults may eat juveniles that are less than 5 feet long.
As to why the larger alligator wasn’t actively eating the smaller alligator, Hart said there could be a couple of possibilities.
“If he’s got a good bite like that and he’s afraid that that that prey item is gonna get away, he might just sit there and hold on to it,” she said.
The alligator may have been basking in the sun, waiting to have the energy, digestive ability and metabolism needed to eat the smaller alligator. Like other cold-blooded animals, alligators don’t make their heat and rely on the sun to raise their body temperatures for energy.
“If their body temperature is under about 65 degrees, they really can’t feed. They can’t digest,” Hart said. “He’s waiting to get warm enough that he can spend some energy taking this other alligator apart to eat it.”
The next day, when Schrader made his rounds, the two alligators were gone. Schrader did something he’s practiced at: letting them play the course.
It’s what Hart recommends when encountering the reptiles so that everyone stays safe.
“People just need to give these these creatures their space, and they’ll take care of it themselves,” she said.
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