Mods - feel free to delete or move this topic - just felt like posting a dumb one
Georgia Launches First-Ever Alligator Hunting Season
ALBANY, Ga. — Georgia (search)'s first-ever alligator hunt is under way, with 180 people picked by lottery to kill the giant reptiles that pose a nuisance by crawling into carports and sliding into swimming pools.
Georgia is allowing the hunt in 13 counties and a wildlife management area near Valdosta (search). The hunt began Saturday and ends Sept. 28.
Melissa Cummings, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Management Division, said there were no reports by Monday of any alligator (search) kills, but hunters have until Oct. 15 to register the 'gators they take either for hide or meat -- or both.
Georgia is one of five states with alligator hunting seasons, including Louisiana, Texas, Florida and South Carolina.
Alligators are hunted at night by light beam, with only the eerie glow of their eyes visible. Hunters must snare them first and pull them close to their boats before killing them, either by handgun or severing the spinal cord.
"It's something new," said Rebecca Tuten, 26, a registered nurse from Donalsonville and one of the hunters. "I've never done a whole lot of hunting before."
Tuten plans to head out in the dead of night this week with her boyfriend, Craig Merrifield, in search of the reptiles that can grow up to 16 feet and weigh as much as 800 pounds.
The state Department of Natural Resources received 2,557 applications for the hunt and chose 180 people at random. Each hunter pays $50 for a license and the alligators have to be at least four-feet long. Each hunter is allowed only one alligator.
With state and federal conservation efforts, Georgia's alligator population has surged from almost none in the 1960s to an estimated 200,000. Wildlife officials hope the hunt will help reduce nuisance alligator complaints, while also providing a unique hunting experience.
Georgia wildlife officials receive an average of 450 nuisance complaints a year from people who discover alligators in swimming pools and carports, on golf courses or under houses. Nuisance alligators are killed or moved by the state's licensed trappers.
The state has had eight alligator attacks on humans since 1980, but none was fatal.
The areas where hunts were sanctioned have been hotbeds for complaints.
Cummings said the new hunting season "can help remove some potentially nuisance alligators, but you're only talking about a maximum of 180, so it's not going to be that many out of the population."
"Not everyone is guaranteed to get one," she said.
Georgia Launches First-Ever Alligator Hunting Season
ALBANY, Ga. — Georgia (search)'s first-ever alligator hunt is under way, with 180 people picked by lottery to kill the giant reptiles that pose a nuisance by crawling into carports and sliding into swimming pools.
Georgia is allowing the hunt in 13 counties and a wildlife management area near Valdosta (search). The hunt began Saturday and ends Sept. 28.
Melissa Cummings, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Management Division, said there were no reports by Monday of any alligator (search) kills, but hunters have until Oct. 15 to register the 'gators they take either for hide or meat -- or both.
Georgia is one of five states with alligator hunting seasons, including Louisiana, Texas, Florida and South Carolina.
Alligators are hunted at night by light beam, with only the eerie glow of their eyes visible. Hunters must snare them first and pull them close to their boats before killing them, either by handgun or severing the spinal cord.
"It's something new," said Rebecca Tuten, 26, a registered nurse from Donalsonville and one of the hunters. "I've never done a whole lot of hunting before."
Tuten plans to head out in the dead of night this week with her boyfriend, Craig Merrifield, in search of the reptiles that can grow up to 16 feet and weigh as much as 800 pounds.
The state Department of Natural Resources received 2,557 applications for the hunt and chose 180 people at random. Each hunter pays $50 for a license and the alligators have to be at least four-feet long. Each hunter is allowed only one alligator.
With state and federal conservation efforts, Georgia's alligator population has surged from almost none in the 1960s to an estimated 200,000. Wildlife officials hope the hunt will help reduce nuisance alligator complaints, while also providing a unique hunting experience.
Georgia wildlife officials receive an average of 450 nuisance complaints a year from people who discover alligators in swimming pools and carports, on golf courses or under houses. Nuisance alligators are killed or moved by the state's licensed trappers.
The state has had eight alligator attacks on humans since 1980, but none was fatal.
The areas where hunts were sanctioned have been hotbeds for complaints.
Cummings said the new hunting season "can help remove some potentially nuisance alligators, but you're only talking about a maximum of 180, so it's not going to be that many out of the population."
"Not everyone is guaranteed to get one," she said.
