OH, can't let NJ top us with an ALLIGATOR Story
This Week in Florida:
Alligator bites off swimming teen's arm in Fla.
Published : Tuesday, 10 Jul 2012, 8:14 AM CDT
MOORE HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — An alligator at least 10 feet long lunged at a teenager swimming in a river and bit off the teen's right arm below the elbow, state wildlife officials said Tuesday.
Kaleb Langdale, 17, survived the encounter Monday in the Caloosahatchee River west of Lake Okeechobee. Wildlife officers who caught and killed the alligator retrieved the arm, but doctors were unable to reattach it.
The alligator was 10 or 11 feet long.
The teen was in good condition Tuesday at Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers.
The alligator went straight for Langdale as he was swimming, Matt Baker said.
"It came at him and he put his arm in the way instead of letting it get to his body. It took his arm and him under," Baker said.
Another friend said Langdale popped out of the water shortly after being bitten.
"He was waving saying, 'Call the paramedics! My arm is gone!'" Gary Beck said.
The Glades County area near Lake Okeechobee where Langdale was swimming is known to have several large alligators in it, Pino said. Alligators are more active this time of year because it's their mating season, which makes them more aggressive and inquisitive as they're looking for food and for mates. Wildlife officers warn that alligators can call just about any body of water in Florida home.
"Anything that makes any splash in the water or any little commotion in the water may attract them to that particular location," Pino said.
It's rare for wild alligators to bite humans, though, Pino said.
"We have millions of people swimming in the state's waterways and nothing happens," he said.
Since 1948, 224 people have suffered major alligator bites, including 22 fatal bites, according to June 2011 conservation commission data.
Wildlife officials were investigating what caused the alligator to bite Langdale.
"We want to understand the dynamics of the bite and understand what happened, what the alligator was doing, what the young man was doing, to see if there's anything we can learn from this," Pino said.
Last month, an airboat captain was giving a tour in southwest Florida when a 9-foot alligator bit off his left hand. The Indiana family on the boat said the captain had hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator bit him.
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11.5- foot gator captured in Orange Park
Published: Thursday July 12, 2012
ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- 92-year-old John Nelson has been living in his home since 1948 and has seen alot. But he has never seen an alligator that big on his property. "Sooner or later he is going to get into trouble and get something he shouldn't," said Nelson.
He's been watching it swim in Doctors Lake for weeks, but called police when it got just a few feet away from his front door. "He got too close to dogs and children, and we don't want to take any chances," he said.
"I've never seen one this big in Orange Park," said Chief James Boivin. The Orange Park Police Chief watched as two trappers captured the nuisance gator. "He's endangering the kids, animals and people here," said Boivin.
"They are a lot of danger, and they can take an arm quick," said trapper, Patrick Williams.
With a couple of spears and some rope, the trappers were able to get the 11-and-a-half foot gator off Nelson's property. "He is as wide as a barrel. If you know how big a barrel is, that's how wide his stomach is," said Nelson.
And though Nelson will never know what the gator ate to get that big, he can sleep better at night knowing no one here will be on the menu. If you see a nuisance gator in your area, state officials say you should never feed, touch, or try to catch it.
Instead call 1-866-FWC-GATOR. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will send a licensed trapper to remove it.
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