A brutal alligator attack recently took place in Florida. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC), a man was fishing at a golf course pond in Leesburg in Central Florida, when the alligator attacked.
Witnesses say that the man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was reeling in a fish when the incident occurred. “The gator was after [the] fish, and what we don’t know is if the guy was trying to unhook the fish,” Ron Priest told FOX 35. “While the guy was on the ground, the gator got the guy in the hand, and the two rolled.”
“There was a gator attacking a man in my backyard. Some people now have stopped in their golf cart,” said another witness in a 911 call transcript obtained by ClickOrlando.com.
One caller reported that the gator appeared to have “took [the man’s] hand off” during the attack, which ended after the gator retreated into the water. The authorities arrived minutes later, and the victim was promptly airlifted to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment.
FWC agents euthanized the gator responsible for the attack through the agency’s “Alligator Management Program.” It was approximately 9 feet long.
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While alligator attacks are rare, they do occur more commonly in the spring when gator activity spikes following winter. “Be aware of the possible presence of alligators when in or near fresh or brackish water,” advises the FWC in a Human-Alligator Incidents Fact Sheet. “Negative alligator encounters may occur when people do not pay close attention to their surroundings when working or recreating near water.
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