MANTEO, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is holding public hearings about the possibility of having the state's first alligator hunting season.

Commission spokesman Ryan Kennemur tells The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Virginia,  that hunters would need a permit allowing one alligator per season.

Alligators could be killed with such weapons as harpoons, bow and arrows, or clubs known as wooden pegs but not with guns.

The season would likely run from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1. Nine public hearings are scheduled early next year.

Two years ago, biologists traveled hundreds of miles in boats in the middle of the night shining lights toward shorelines and counting the bright eyeballs of alligators. Researchers spotted more alligators than in previous years, but there was no way to pinpoint a number.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com