Posted on 06/13/2012 2:32:15 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Gator bites off hand of Everglades airboat captain
EVERGLADES CITY — A 63-year-old airboat captain lost his left hand when an alligator bit it off, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The victim’s name is Wallace Weatherholt of Captain Doug's Everglades Tours on State Road 29.
FWC officials said a criminal investigation is pending. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.
POSTED EARLIER
An Everglades City airboat captain lost his hand Tuesday afternoon when an alligator bit it off, according to a state wildlife official.
The airboat captain was taken to a Naples hospital following the attack, said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Wildlife officials tracked the alligator, retrieved the hand from its stomach and brought it to the hospital, she said.
The alligator was euthanized following the attack, which was reported around 3:45 p.m., said another spokesman, Jorge Pino.
Officials did not publicly identify the captain, but NBC-2 reported he was an employee of Captain Doug’s Everglades Tours on State Road 29.
The TV station on Tuesday showed video footage of a Captain Doug’s airboat captain taunting an alligator with food during a tour last week, although it was not clear if it was the same employee. Efforts to reach Captain Doug’s for comment were unsuccessful Tuesday.
Segelson, the wildlife official, said she did not know if anyone else was in the boat at the time of the bite and had no other details Tuesday night.
Tuesday’s attack wasn’t the first time a Collier County resident lost a hand or a limb to an alligator.
In July of 2010, an alligator bit off the left hand of Tim Delano, then 18, ...
(Excerpt) Read more at naplesnews.com ...
Apologies ... but this news story immediately reminded me of Captain Hook and Tic Tock the croc
The Captain must have been a Nole.
Bit the hand that fed it huh?
So was he holding food in his hand? Or is he being charged with feeding the allegators his hand?
Amos is that you???
Amos Moses: Jerry Reed
Now the folks around south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest meanest alligator
And he’d just use one hand
That’s all he got left cause an alligator bit it
Left arm gone clear up to the elbow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7GyLr7Cz2g
ping
FWC officials said a criminal investigation is pending. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.
In some jurisdictions, they evidently interpret the law VERY literally.
So the gator bites his hand off and now he could be charged with feeding an alligator? That's worse than the guy last week that was charged with littering after dropping money he was handing to a homeless person.
Amos Moooooooses.
That pic shows a croc! Which this whole article is without more info.
I’m sure that the punishment for this second-degree misdemeanor crime is just a slap on the wrist ... oops, um, hmmmmmmmm
From airboat driver to drive instructor......in one bite!
Some of the best fishing in America is in the Everglades city area.
Story older than Moses (yes, that is the Jerry reed who was in Smokey and the Bandit).
GMTA
I took an airboat tours a few years ago(as many times as I have been Miami, I had ridden in one before) and the tour guide feed a 4 ft. gator to get him close to the boat.
Amos Moses by Jerry Reed
Well, the folks around south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest, the meanest alligator
And just use one hand
That’s all he’s got left cause an alligator bit him
Aggggrrr!!!!
You beat me!
They are worthless evil things. They should be hunted to extinction.
Thanks. Now i can’t get that song out of my head.
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