
DATE: Friday, August 15, 1997               TAG: 9708150739

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   68 lines

IN ELIZABETH CITY, GATORS LURE THE CURIOUS

While three little alligators float peacefully in the Pasquotank River, their admirers are raising a ruckus.

The alligators are about 50 miles north of what's supposed to be their northernmost range, in the Alligator River, which divides Tyrrell and Dare counties. And they're drawing a lot of attention.

``I never heard of one in (the) Pasquotank or Camden area,'' said Preston Tyndall, a North Carolina wildlife enforcement officer here for 14 years. ``But they're showing up in places where they haven't been seen.''

A little bridge on U.S. 17 about eight miles north of Elizabeth City is the focal point of the curious who are stopping along the road by the dozens to get a look.

People are parking their cars only partly off the pavement and then running to the bridge. Tourists are stopping suddenly when they see groups of people gawking and pointing toward the water. Families are crossing back and forth across the busy highway, where large tractor trailers pass by.

Thursday, television station crews from Hampton Roads and Raleigh joined the clamor.

``It's the first time I've ever seen one around here,'' said Celestine Carver as she peered over the side of the bridge. Below her, a 2-foot-long alligator floated amid the green algae. ``I heard about it at the South Mills Supermarket this morning. They say there's one about 6 feet long.''

All the attention is causing headaches for Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright.

``I've had 50 million calls about alligators,'' Cartwright said Thursday.

He has dispatched his deputies to warn people to be careful on the highway. His animal control officers are trying to protect the alligators from people, not the other way around.

``We've had people throwing rocks at them,'' Cartwright said. ``Somebody put boots on and went down in the water. We don't want people doing that.''

One reason to heed his advice might be the penalties for harming a threatened species - a $2,000 fine and possible jail time even for attempting to hurt one.

Two alligators are less than 3 feet long, and one is about 5 or 6 feet long, Cartwright said. Since adult alligators range from 6 to 16 feet in length, the largest of the three could be a mother.

Alligators are very protective of their young, according to field guides on reptiles.

``I want to caution people to leave them alone,'' said David Rowe, a North Carolina wildlife biologist.

Alligators have been on the threatened list since 1967 but have become plentiful enough in Florida and Louisiana to allow hunting.

``Maybe they're expanding their range,'' Rowe said.

Alligators appeared in Merchants Millpond in Gates County last summer, and some were seen at Colington Harbour in Dare County near Kill Devil Hills a few years ago, Tyndall said.

According to field guides, alligators thrive when left alone. One mother alligator can lay 30 to 60 eggs in one clutch.

``There are more alligators,'' Tyndall said. ``They're territorial, so when they reproduce they're pushed away. Maybe that's it.''

Cartwright wants them to go back to where they came from.

``I'm hoping they'll migrate back to the swamp area,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

JEFFREY S. HAMPTON

A 2-foot-long alligator, one of three lounging in the Pasquotank

River, is about 50 miles north of its normal domain.

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