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Replies: 32
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Paw Master [17352]
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Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:19 PM
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There are plenty along the coast of SC and lake Marion area. Where is the farthest upstate gators live?
I hate those things much more than sharks.
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Solid Orange [1326]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:21 PM
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midlands is the highest you'll see them. Th
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Heisman Winner [83981]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 6:35 PM
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They said to live around the Congaree Creek and Congaree River close to Columbia. I walk this area every week and still have never seen one. There must not be many of them. I’m not concerned in the slightest.
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Athletic Dir [1107]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 14, 2025, 8:32 AM
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I've seen them in the Columbia Canal where I-126 dumps on to Huger St.
The gator I see lives north of I-126 and south of I-20.
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TigerNet Eternal Icon [184779]
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Somebody lets one out in Lake Bowen or Blalock from time to time
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:25 PM
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But I don’t think one has ever made it through a winter
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Clemson Icon [25483]
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Re: Somebody lets one out in Lake Bowen or Blalock from time to time
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Aug 13, 2025, 5:31 PM
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I remember that. We had a house more like a cabin near the 26 Bridge on the deep end. I think the game wardens finally caught it.
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Game Day Hero [4180]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:31 PM
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Just Big Al at the Greenville Zoo.
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Oculus Spirit [40213]
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Ive been there, but I dont live there!
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Aug 13, 2025, 2:00 PM
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😂
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Orange Immortal [62386]
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I would guess they stop somewhere between Columbia and Orangeburg,Manning,etc.***
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:35 PM
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110%er [3975]
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The "Fall Line" in SC. Years ago, they put out pythons in Aiken to see if they
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Aug 13, 2025, 2:15 PM
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Could live. They didnt... I guess gators are the same??? I know they can survive in a slowed state in freezing temps, but not sure how long... This is all based on an independent youtube investigation
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Paw Master [16170]
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Re: I would guess they stop somewhere between Columbia and Orangeburg,Manning,etc.***
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Aug 14, 2025, 9:08 AM
[ in reply to I would guess they stop somewhere between Columbia and Orangeburg,Manning,etc.*** ] |
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I have seen them on Lake Murray more than once. Last one I saw was about 6ft but I don't think there is really a breeding population. Plus all the housing with docks, they probably have a shortened life unlike Santee lakes with plenty of places to hide. They could easily survive in Murray if people didn't take them out.
Cut SC in half from East to West and I have seen them in just about every body of water on the eastern side. The limiting factors are mainly the lake d@mms.
Seen them while bass fishing:
Clarkes Hill
Lake Russell
Murray
Santee River, above and below Marion
All Santee, Marion, Moultrie, River
Edisto river
Congaree river
Peedee river, big and little
Waccamaw
Black River
Seems like I recall seeing one on Wateree once but I may be remembering the first one I saw on Murray.
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TigerNet Elite [70911]
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Too cold in the winter for them to survive.
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:39 PM
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While alligators may occasionally be found in the upstate largely due to relocation or some idiot releasing one that got too big to keep at home, they are obviously not native to the region and the likelihood that they would survive the colder Upstate winters is remote.
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Trainer [43]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:43 PM
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In Georgia they roughly stop around the fall line from Columbus, to Macon, to Augusta. They’re found in small numbers north of the fall line, but it’s rare.
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Gridiron Giant [16078]
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There was one in Atlanta for a few years
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Aug 13, 2025, 5:16 PM
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it was spending time right off the Chattahoochee River at Cochran Shoals in a swampy area right off the running trails.
People had caught pictures of him/her walking across the main trail to and from the River.
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TigerNet Elite [72608]
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Yes, I know a few UFla fans here in the Greenville metro area.***
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:46 PM
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But, seriously, I have not seen any in my water wanderings.
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All-Time Great [96974]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 1:51 PM
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google "Fall Line" as to most critters
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Orange Beast [6561]
TigerPulse: 74%
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Any USC fan is considered GATOR BAIT!!
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Aug 13, 2025, 2:06 PM
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Keep those gators comin' to clear out those chickens...
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Paw Warrior [5060]
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Translation, LSU fans
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Aug 13, 2025, 2:10 PM
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Make sure to pack your own gator bites for the tailgate on the airboat before you leave your swamp, we don’t have any near Clemson.
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All-Conference [404]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 2:47 PM
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In mid 1990s I worked with SCDNR for summer internship and I remember helping to try to catch one found in a lake in or near Union, SC. I remember game warden trying to snag him with a grappling hook but could not get him that summer. My guess is some one let him loose in the lake. I live in Central Texas now and every once in a while we hear of a gator sighting in nearby Lampasas River.
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Varsity [102]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 3:07 PM
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The ones in the upstate migrated from Gainesville, FL.
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110%er [3643]
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I have seen them in the brick ponds in North Augusta. I have heard tales of
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Aug 13, 2025, 3:55 PM
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one spotted near Edgefield.
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Tiger Cub [12]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 4:09 PM
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This boy was in the Cayce City limits a few years ago. It was around 10Ft long.
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Heisman Winner [83981]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 6:40 PM
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I’m in that area all the time hiking, but I have never seen one there. But I’m sure that they’re there.
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Tiger Cub [12]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 14, 2025, 5:38 AM
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This one was in the Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve.
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Heisman Winner [83981]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
Aug 14, 2025, 10:36 AM
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The Heritage preserve is very undeveloped... no concrete walkways and a lot of standing water. Very few people hike through there. I've been through the whole loop a couple of times, and there are a few places I get a little uneasy (mainly because I am the only person within shouting distance).
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Tiger Cub [12]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
Aug 14, 2025, 4:11 PM
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I know what you mean. In the back section, where the trail gets really narrow and there's water on both sides, I always feel like the Crocadile Hunter. Just waiting for something to jump out at you.
A friend and I were down there three weeks ago and were standing above one of the borrow pits, close to Congaree Creek, when we noticed something making a lot of disturbance in a pool next to the one we were at. As the splashing got closer something came out of the water and over the small bank dividing the two borrow pits that turned out to be a family of 5 otters. They came within 10 feet of us while we stood still and recorded them hunting and eating with our phones. I'll try to download the video and post it.
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Clemson Icon [25483]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 5:28 PM
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Me too ! I have lost many a golf to a gator. It landed to close. Unlike the Florida Football Gators those real ones all hall ####. Personally, I don’t want it to be #### he takes a chunk out of mine 😂
PS: I have seen some real ones as far up as cootville.
Message was edited by: wueagle86®
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All-Time Great [92739]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 13, 2025, 8:21 PM
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A man found a small one in a roadside ditch a few years back- probably released there by someone but a person I worked with in that county had a large one that stayed in a pond. She said it had a den on the edge of the pond where it stayed during cold weather
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Ultimate Clemson Legend [99341]
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We've Got'em . . .
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Aug 13, 2025, 11:39 PM
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in the Laurinburg, NC / Bennettsville, SC Area . . . a healthy population to boot.
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Clemson Icon [24882]
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Not in upstate SC but I saw this video recently... some of the comments
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Aug 14, 2025, 10:40 AM
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made me laugh. "911, what is your emergency?" "Uh, I have a dinosaur in my front yard"
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MAWZgqsNVMM
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Campus Hero [13778]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
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Aug 14, 2025, 10:42 AM
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When I was in Engineers School at Camp Lejeune we blew up a hibernating gator while learning how to use dynamite to create a ditch using sympathetic detonation in swampy ground. Not much left of him after his encounter with dynamite.
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Heisman Winner [83981]
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Re: Are there alligators in the upstate?
Aug 14, 2025, 10:45 AM
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Very sympathetic... HaHa!
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All-In [10895]
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There needs to be one or two in the Furman lake
Aug 14, 2025, 10:48 AM
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Just so we can call 'em Paligators 
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Replies: 32
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