An angler fishing in a pond on a Florida golf course has been hospitalized after being attacked by a massive, nine-foot-long alligator on Sunday afternoon. Witnesses later recalled the horrifying scene, in which the gator bit the man's hand completely off.
One neighbor, Ron Priest, who saw it happen, told Orlando's Fox 35 News that the man had been reeling in a fish when the gator suddenly appeared and chomped down on his hand. "While the guy was on the ground, the gator got the guy in the hand, and the two rolled," Priest recalled. "The gator was after [the] fish, and what we don't know is if the guy was trying to unhook the fish."
Priest said that following the struggle, the gator left both the fish and victim behind and retreated back into the water. The man was airlifted to the hospital by emergency crews that arrived on the scene within minutes, but there is no word on his condition.
"It's my understanding that Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission can't dispose of a human part," Priest added. "It has to be sent to a medical facility, and so, in the odd chance that it could have been re-attached, they drove it to Orlando."
Emergency 911 calls released by Lake County Fire Rescue likewise paint a horrifying picture of the gristly attack. "There is a gator attacking a man in my backyard!" said one caller. "Some people now have stopped in their golf carts!"
When a second caller was asked if the emergency was regarding a gator attack, they responded: "Yes, he took his hand off ... Hand is gone!"
Unfortunately, as is the case in the event of any attack by a so-called "nuisance gator," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was forced to shoot the animal. The agency stresses the importance of the public exercising caution when encountering alligators, and to be sure to allow them ample space.
