Q&A with a state contractor who hunts nuisance alligators

COLUMBIA, S.C. | Capturing a man-eating alligator is all in a day's work for Department of Natural Resources contractor Ron Russell.
Last Sunday, he caught an 11-foot, 550-pound alligator that attacked a snorkeler in Lake Moultrie. Bill Hedden's arm was bitten off; doctors were unable to reattach it.
A few days later, Russell spoke with The Associated Press about the work he's done the past five years with the help of his wife and two sons. Last year, they caught 62 alligators. This year, the Russells have already caught more than 70 as part of their work answering calls to remove so-called nuisance alligators in Charleston, Berkley and Dorchester counties.
State officials estimate that around 100,000 alligators roam the South Carolina coast.
AP: You routinely capture alligators, but were you hesitant about capturing the one involved in last Sunday's attack?
Russell: Instincts take over and you don't think much about it. We captured him and secured him ... One of the officers handed me a knife and we went to work. I knew where I needed to go and got there and got the man's arm out. EMT was waiting there with a bag to get it on ice and get it to the hospital. So, within an hour we had that arm to the hospital.
AP: Expert catchers make it look easy. How difficult is it to catch these large reptiles?
Russell: Yeah, STEVE IRWIN made it look real easy to a certain extent because he knew the animals. Although I would never classify myself as a Steve Irwin, I do things very methodical. I can read the animal. I've only been physically hurt twice in all the years I've been messing with them. And they were just dumb accidents. So, sometimes it looks easy and sometimes it's not very easy.
AP: Tell us about the two times you were hurt.
Russell: I was securing a seven-foot gator and he got my hand in his mouth and dislocated one of my fingers. That was our mistake ... And the other time was with a tail. I got my ankles cut open from the end of a tail, which can be razor sharp.
AP: What should people do if they encounter an alligator?
Russell: First off, don't approach it and, second, get on the phone and call the professionals. Usually they call 911 and the dispatcher transfers the call to the DNR and the DNR calls me. It's best off not to disturb them.
AP: Is it in an alligator's nature to attack or retreat?
Russell: An alligator would much rather hide and get under water where he feels safe than be on the ground with somebody around ... They are going to retreat and any time they are approached on land they're backing away from you. But they're going to face you the whole time. They'll hiss and snap their mouth ... their biggest thing is to intimidate you to leave them alone until they get to their environment.
AP: How can you avoid an attack?
Russell: Be aware of your surroundings. If you are in alligator areas, you need to know that they are there. I still believe if that alligator would have realized that it was a human being and not a fish flopping on the water the possibility of the attack would not have happened.
AP: How do you catch an alligator?
Russell: If it's on land it's pretty simple. We have a long snare pull. Once you put a snare around a gator's neck, he going to go pretty ballistic ... I cover his eyes with a towel and then I usually get around behind him and get on their back. Once I get on their back I'm fairly secure. I secure their head and tape their mouth. Then I proceeded to tape their legs so they can't run from you. We put them in the back of the truck and take them home.
AP: What happens once they're "home"?
Russell: We have to dispatch them. Under state regulations ... we don't move gators anymore. So they have to be harvested. We use the meat mostly for fundraisers. We mount the heads and sell those and we also take the hides to the market.
AP: What's the strangest place you've captured an alligator?
Russell: I guess a garage would be about the strangest place ... A lady hit the garage door button as she was coming around the corner. When she pulled up into her driveway, the door was halfway open and she realized the gator was there and she immediately hit the button again. By that time the gator saw the car coming at him, he turned around and ran into the garage.
AP: You said you took the man's arm out of the gator, what are other strange items you've taken out of an alligator's stomach?
Russell: I've found two regulation-sized, deflated basketballs. I had one 9-footer that had 18 tennis balls ... the soles of shoes, petrified wood ... a Timex watch - and it was still working.

AP: What the biggest misconception about alligators?
Russells: Alligators are pretty easy to live with. And they are probably one of the neatest creatures that you'd ever want to observe ... The only time they are going to attack is, number one, when they're messed with and, number two, when they want to eat