Processing gators a task for local business

EFFINGHAM — With painstaking patience, Richard Smith scoured an alligator skin and stripped the remaining scraps of meat with a knife and discarded them into a bucket.

He was happy to be almost done with his job on this hide, which was then to be cured and either mounted or possibly sold.

He chuckled slightly at the question.

Gator processing

Ever wonder what happens to the alligator after the hunt? Morning News photographer Rebecca J. Ducker did. Click here to follow her experience at the processing center. Read more about three guys who went out and bagged themselves a gator, click here.

“I wouldn’t exactly say I enjoy this,” he said, smiling. “But it’s not that bad. Just something that has to be done.”

Smith seemed to have what it takes to work at a wildlife processing operation — the proper skills and a strong stomach.

But processing gators is something that is relatively new — at least on such a large level — to the guys at 301 Deer Processing, where Smith works, and at many other processing facilities around South Carolina.

The first statewide alligator hunting season since 1964 put between 30 and 35 gators in Steve Drummond’s lap.

“I really didn’t have any plan on getting started (processing gators),” said Drummond, who owns and operates 301 Deer Processing. “Mainly, I just wanted to do it for taxidermy. But people had to have a way to get them processed.”

Drummond is certainly getting plenty of taxidermy business, too. He does head mounts, full body mounts, skins — name it and he can do it. And of course, many, though not all of the customers who brought Drummond gators, want the meat, too.

For those who like the taste of gator — many describe it as a fishy taste, only stronger — a gator can provide a lot of food with little waste.

Many are familiar with the deep-fried nuggets from the tail meat. But meat from the jaws, legs, loins and ribs — pretty much the whole gator — is also edible.

Drummond said he has used meat from the legs and ribs to make sausage. He said he seasoned it just like he would pork or deer sausage and mixed in some pork fat.

“It was pretty much the same deal (as other sausage),” he said. “The (gator) sausage actually looks better than a deer sausage because of the white meat, but the texture is just different than deer. It’s sort of like a gristly fish, I thought.

“I tried the sausage and it was all right. Now, I didn’t reach over there and take off a big ol’ bite. I just pinched off a little bit.”

Drummond said processing alligators is easier than many might think. They’re tough on the outside, but once the skin is open, the meat comes off quite easily, he said.

Drummond said he recently tackled a 10-foot gator by himself and had the animal cleaned, skinned and cut up in about an hour.

How much does it cost?

Drummond said he processed an animal just less than 13 feet long for $544.

If customers want only some meat and leave the skin and head for Drummond to use for mounts or for sale, the cost is substantially less.

Drummond said gator hides with little or no scarring that are eight feet or longer can be sold for as much as $40 a foot. Shorter skins go for less.

Drummond said he doesn’t need any special permit in order to process alligator meat. But he makes sure his facility is properly inspected by proper authorities “so you know you’re as healthy and clean as possible,” he said.

The process is pretty simple.

The gator is first laid out flat on a cement floor. Drummond said he sprays the animal down with sanitizer, scrubs the gator and rinses him off. The animal is then flipped over on its back and the process is repeated.

If the gator is going to be mounted, the gator is cut on the belly. If it’s only a skin mount, the animal is cut down the back.

The meat is removed, packaged, vacuum-sealed and labeled as South Carolina alligator. Each gator harvested in this year’s hunt must be tagged, as well, and that tag number has to be on the packaged meat before it can be transferred or given away.

Meat from gators harvested in the public hunt can not be sold or bartered.

Drummond said he expects even more business if the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources decides to continue with the public hunt next year, but he said he might not see as many of the bigger animals — 12- or 13-footers — if it becomes an annual event.

“Big gators are not hard to come by,” Drummond said. “But I feel like in a few years, if they continue with this hunt, the trophy alligators will definitely go down in numbers.”