Mobile Home Sales in Bonneau, SC

An invader reptile species from South America is now slithering in three regions of South Carolina, including around Charleston.

Since last month, eight more sightings of the black and white tegu lizard have been confirmed in the state.

Five were reported in Lexington and Richland counties, two in Berkeley County and one in Greenville County.

The two in Berkeley County were in the Bonneau area.

All the animals were deceased when the Department of Natural Resources received them from members of the public.

Although sightings have increased in South Carolina, state Herpetologist Andrew Grosse said he does not believe the lizards are reproducing here. The animals are popular among reptile collectors and could have escaped or been released.

“I would say they’re not moving long distances,” Grosse said. “They’re probably staying in the general vicinity of where they were released or escaped from, but it’s hard to say.”

The ground-dwelling lizards can weigh more than 10 pounds and reach up to 4 feet in length.

They have been established in Georgia and Florida, but Grosse said the species is not wanted in South Carolina.

“They are a large predator that essentially dropped into our ecosystem, and on top of being a large predator, they’re omnivorous, so they are open to eating pretty much anything they come across,” he said.

Tests on the carcasses show the lizards have been scavenging native plants and animals including toads, insects and muscadines. This leaves DNR officials believing they are wild, free-roaming and searching widely for food.

Tegus have been seen in Florida opening alligator nests and eating the eggs. Ground-nesting birds could also be easy prey for them.

Grosse said the lizards are likely to run away from people and haven’t been documented as dangerous to human or pets.

The animals are not protected by the state and may be eliminated in the wild by members of the public as long as local laws are adhered to, DNR said.

People who believe they have spotted a black and white tegu lizard are encouraged to take a picture and report it to Grosse at grossea@dnr.sc.gov.

In the Real-American stronghold of South Carolina, of all places, a 65-year-old woman has been accused of violating the state obscenity law by hanging a pair of Truck Nutz plastic testicles from the back of her pickup truck. What's next, a ban on the American flag?

Virginia Tice faces a $445 fine for decorating her Dodge with a pair of the dangling things, which often go together with anti-Obama bumper stickers and truck boxes full of guns. Earlier this month, Tice's Nutz caught the eye of Bonneau, S.C. Police Department Chief Franco Fuda, who spotted them while Tice was parked at a convenience store (where, one hopes, she was buying some sort of jerky and a lottery ticket). Under South Carolina state law, something becomes indecent "when it describes, in an offensive way as determined by contemporary community standards, 'sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body.'" Whether Truck Nutz offend Bonneau community standards isn't exactly clear, so Fuda's requested a jury trial to gain some clarity on this important legal issue of our times.

The war against Nutz has been raging in South Carolina for some time now, with other towns in the Palmetto state declaring them to be "indecent vehicle ornaments." Why is South Carolina so against plastic testicles? This is the state that voted in Mark Sanford, who's got some of the biggest, fakest balls in American gubernatorial history. Oh America's South, how your contradictions confuse us.

Perhaps the most comical part of this whole story is Fuda's statement that "I went to (a) few websites that said, excuse the expression, 'show your nuts' ... I didn't see anywhere it said support your local proctologist or farmer." Either he thinks that butt doctors also examine testicles, or that Truck Nutz grow on trees. As far as we know, neither is true.

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — The small town of Bonneau is rallying around a family whose son is recovering from a serious accident involving a lawnmower on Saturday.

According to a report from the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, Wyatt Carr, 5, was playing in his yard while his father, Clinton, was cutting the grass.

The boy's mother, Lorena, told authorities that Wyatt "came out of nowhere" and was run over by the lawnmower, according to the report. The parents provided their son with medical attention until first responders arrived.

Berkeley County Fire, EMS and sheriff's deputies responded to the residence on Lake Moultrie Drive shortly before 5 p.m. Wyatt was medically evacuated to MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital for treatment of serious injuries to his left leg and hand.

Deputies say no foul play is expected.

GoFundMe

According to a GoFundMe set up for the family by a community member, Wyatt lost his left leg below the knee as well as part of his left hand.

The fundraiser, which was set up on Sunday, has raised nearly $20,000 at the time of publishing. More than 250 people have donated.

In addition to the GoFundMe, others in the community are doing their part to raise funds to aid the Carrs with their medical bills.

Charity dinner

On Saturday, Aug. 20, all funds made from the North Berkeley Marine Division Chicken Bog Dinner will be donated to the family.

The dinner is taking place from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at 942 Black Oak Rd. Plates cost $11 each and come with chicken bog, green beans and a roll.

Those who are interested in ordering ahead are asked to call or text one of the following numbers:

Family photoshoot raffle

Diandra Dellucci Photography is raffling off a family photoshoot. Dellucci says all proceeds will go directly to the family to cover medical costs, including getting Wyatt a prosthetic leg.

Each dollar donated counts as one entry, and there are no limits as to how much you can donate.

For more information, click here.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The Newberry County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of 55-year-old Ryan Lanard Bonneau.

Bonneau was arrested for receiving stolen goods valued at more than $10,000, possession of a weapon by a violent felon, and unlawful carry of a handgun.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, deputies received a call from a resident that was looking to purchase a Kubota Skid Steer from Facebook Market Place.

The individual became suspicious during the conversations about buying and delivering the heavy equipment.

Deputies were provided a vehicle identification number and wanted help from the Sheriff’s Office to check on the status of the skid steer.

During the investigation, deputies found out that the item was stolen and began an undercover operation to retrieve the stolen item.

Sheriff Foster stated, “After taking Bonneau into detention, Deputies confirmed the skid steer was the one stolen from West Columbia and made contact with Investigators from West Columbia of the recovery.” “During the investigation of Bonneau was discovered to have $20,000 in cash, a handgun, along with his two children.”

Investigators say, during the operation, Bonneau’s two children were with him and cared for by deputies before being turned over to the Department of Social Services for family placement.

Bonneau is being detained at the Newberry County Detention Center on a $20,000.00 cash/surety bond.

“We would expect to find criminals involved in this type of activity to possibly be armed with a weapon, however, to bring your two kids, subject them to a felony arrest, and place your children in danger, is just thoughtless and careless”, said Sheriff Foster.

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BONNEAU, SC (WCSC) - A Bonneau man says heavy winds from Tropical Storm Hermine caused a tree to collapse onto his home minutes after he told his family to move to the back of the house.

Tim Walters and his family said tree limbs began falling on his home around 10 p.m. Friday and they knew the tree those limbs were coming from was rotten.

"Ninety percent of the time, we're in the living room, you know, that's the X-Box, the movies, the TV, you know, everything's in the living room," Walters said.

Walters urged his children to immediately get out of the living room and go to the back of the house.

Minutes later, the tree fell into the home, and over the length of his entire house.

"One second you could hear the tree cracking and then the next second it just comes tumbling down," Walter said.

Walters protected his two-month-old baby with his body while his fiancée shielded the other children as the tree fell.

"It's probably the scariest thing that I've ever been through in my life," Walters' fiancée, Noelle Bianchi, said. "We didn't know what was going to happen next. Is this it or is the rest of the house going tumbling down? And we couldn't really drive anywhere because the wind was so bad so we just got in the car and parked in the middle of the yard. I figured that was the safest thing because we didn't know if another tree was going to come tumbling down."

No one in the home was seriously injured.

"We're very lucky and we just thank God," Bianchi said.

After they were out of the house, one of Walters' older daughters was in a panicked state, but Walters said what touched him was when their four-year-old tried to reassure her, telling her it could have been a lot worse.

"For a four-year-old to look at the situation and understand how lucky we are is an amazing thing," Walters said. "We're lucky we made it out."

Walters, his children, and fiancée are currently staying with family members until their home is repaired.

Copyright 2016 WCSC. All rights reserved.