Alligator that killed woman at pond likely mistook her for a deer, SC officials say

The South Carolina woman who died 11 days ago in the grip of an alligator’s jaws was likely mistaken for a deer as she lingered at the water, state wildlife officials suspect.

Cynthia Covert was killed May 1 after she approached an alligator in a Kiawah Island pond and attempted to “pet” it, witnesses say.

The alligator has lived in that pond for at least 20 years, and had been “observed taking a deer at the water’s edge,” according to Sam Chappelear of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

“There was nothing unusual here as it relates to the alligator. It has a history of doing what alligators do,” he told McClatchy News in an email.

“It did not have a history of coming out of the water onto land. Based on eyewitness accounts, the individual was videoing the alligator and walked up to the waters edge while the gator was still fully immersed in the lagoon and got close enough to bend over and attempt to pet the gator. That’s when she got pulled into the water by her leg.”

Covert lived at Johns Island, four miles northwest, and was making a house call nearby to do someone’s nails that day, the Associated Press reports.

South Carolina biologists say they’ve yet to find proof that the state’s alligators are “out to attack a human on purpose.” In some cases, people were bitten after stepping on an alligator or even startling it, Chappelear said.

There have been 23 human injuries attributed to gators in the state since 1976 and only three were fatal, including Covert, officials say.

The injuries included everything from flesh wounds to severe bites. In one case, an individual snorkeling in a vegetated area accidentally stuck his hand into a gator’s mouth. The animal ripped his arm “off at his shoulder,” Chappelear says.

As for the other two fatal attacks, one involved someone walking a dog at the waters’ edge, he said.

“The gator lunged for the dog and the leash was wrapped around the owner’s hand and the owner got pulled into the water and drowned,” he said.

The other case remains something of a mystery: A senior was found in a lagoon with alligator bite marks, Chappelear said.

All three fatalities involved alligators that were eight feet in length or longer, he said.

In Covert’s case, the alligator’s bite did not kill her. Witnesses said she was upright in waist deep water with the alligator holding onto her leg when someone threw a rope and tried to pull her to shore. Once the alligator felt the resistance, it rolled, pulling her under and drowning her, officials say.

“Alligators are opportunistic feeders that wait for prey to get close enough to the water or enter into its environment (the water) before attempting to take it. Alligators do not travel across land looking for its prey to chase,” Chappelear said.

The wildlife expert noted that people feeding animals in ponds, lagoons or lakes is often a reason alligators turn up in spots where a human injury can occur.

Feeding ducks or turtles, for example, teaches alligators to associate humans with food and encourages them to “hang out around an area they normally would not,” Chappelear said.

This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 8:02 AM with the headline "Alligator that killed woman at pond likely mistook her for a deer, SC officials say."