Gator reckoning

I really don’t like alligators, even a little bit. They are primordially unattractive and overtly sneaky. If I’m being honest, there’s also a good dose of fear mixed in to my visceral reaction in mind, body, and spirit. So, when my PR friend Carole at Hilton Head’s Coastal Discovery Museum sent me an email with the question When’s the last time you held a baby alligator? in the subject line, forgive me if I shuddered and ignored it.

Eventually, being the polite person of Connecticut upbringing I am, I went back and read it. As I suspected, Carole was enthusiastically pitching a story involving the museum, this time for something called “Critter Meet & Greet,” which takes place on the grounds there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings through August 13.

As good PR people do, she worked some angles: its public popularity (don’t miss out!), educational excitement (safely see, touch, and learn!) and personal connection (seems like the perfect story for you!). I never got around to asking her why she thought that, she must have missed the big THIS CAR DOESN’T BRAKE FOR ALLIGATORS bumper sticker on my vehicle. The angle she didn’t work was just how lovely it is to walk around the museum’s Honey Horn campus any time of year, and since I hadn’t been there in awhile that made the difference.

I arrived on a brilliantly swampy morning of 500% or so humidity and after scanning the parking lot for stray gators headed over to the amphitheater populated by a half-dozen bright pink-shirted interns getting ready to educate and amaze the gathering crowd. If I told you that I was glad the interns were so easy to spot (and therefore potentially more attractive to rogue gators who conceivably could run amuck) would you think less of my upbringing?

Carole connected me with Rex Garniewicz, the President and CEO of the museum and I proceeded to ask him the usual questions. We covered the importance of environmental stewardship, caring for our natural ecosystems, responsible animal education and the fact that people shouldn’t kill non-venomous corn snakes, since they are not only great for rodent control but doing so opens the habitat for their venomous cousins. I seized the opportunity to lump gators into a similarly nasty category with poisonous snakes but Rex wasn’t having it, opting instead for understanding, “I think alligators are fascinating because for me they’re like this ancient creature that was alive at the time of dinosaurs and so there’s something in the back of our brains that includes both terror and fascination.” In my head I conceded he was right, but only if fascination included revulsion and a desire to have them go the way of those dinosaurs and disappear.

Soon it was time to join the festive crowd gathering around various critter stations, including the tub of allegedly cute baby alligators. I side-eyed the squealing-in-delight kids seemingly having fun over there and pretended to be fascinated by the misting station set up for visitors to cool off. Carole wasn’t fooled and loudly asked if I was going to hold a baby alligator. Well Carole, I thought as I wandered over to the tub, I guess if you think it is the perfect story to have me attacked by a gator I will have to!

I put my trust in intern Zoe Diaz, who is studying Environmental Geology and Information Systems at SUNY Stoney Brook. She made a fair point, “Unless you see the animals up close, you’re not going to get a sense of appreciation. I think this is a really great way to get people to care about the environment we’re in.” Okay, but can’t I care without holding this throw back to the Mesozoic Era??

Of course it turned out okay, and I won’t even insert a quip here about learning to type with less fingers. The baby alligator was smooth underneath and scaley on top. Calm to the touch and cool to look at closely. Yes, fascinating. But what really sealed the bond was learning from another intern that these little ones are sometimes eaten by adult male alligators in the wild.

Sydney DeVan, an Environmental Studies student at the University of Oregon with roots in Hilton Head, told me that alligators are very predatory animals that eat anything in their sight that can fit in their mouth. That momentarily cracked my alligator hardened heart and made me feel for the little ones out there just trying to make it to adulthood. Sydney’s remark about what she gets out of interning also hit home, “It’s really amazing being able to help inspire young people to care about the animals.” Of course, I was still glad the baby I held had its mouth taped shut.

In the end, I was glad to take part in the well organized and run Critter Meet & Greet. The interns were all engaging and knowledgeable, and Zoe made sure nothing bad happened in my encounter with the massive eight inch baby gator weighing in at less than a pound.

For museum President Garniewicz, it all comes down to being a well-rounded resident of the Lowcountry, “It’s a way of life to live in harmony with nature, let’s not just come down here for the beaches and golf, let’s also come down here for the beauty of the environment and nature.” And, yes, that includes alligators.

Luke Frazier is a writer and award-winning media producer who recently transplanted to the Lowcountry. He runs NOW Communications, which focuses on the needs of mission-driven organizations.