Alligator jumps out, eats 90 year old's leg.

[The Backlash Cometh]

COPELAND — Officials say an alligator attacked and severely injured an elderly woman in southwestFlorida.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that 90-year-old Margaret Webb was walking near her Copeland home Wednesday when the 8-foot alligator lunged out of a canal.

Officials say the animal tried to drag the woman into the water, but she was able to hang on long enough for a man driving by to stop and help her.

Officials say the woman, who lost part of her leg in the attack, was airlifted to a Fort Myers trauma center.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/os-alligator-attacks-woman-20110831,0,257690.story

[trumad]

1. The man is a hero...

Must have took a lot of guts to do what he did....

[Ganja Ninja]

2. There's just too many big gators in Florida.

These things a dangerous killers. They need to open up hunting in populated areas again and keep it open year round. There's plenty of areas where the species can be preserved. We don't need them living in ponds in residential areas

[WinkyDink]

6. "...open up hunting in populated areas..." Sure! Because what could go wrong?!

[Ganja Ninja]

7. Really what could go wrong? Enlighten me. n/t

[snooper2]

15. We didn't specify the type of weapons you can use

You can use these--



This



This



And this, it's all you get :)

[Myrina]

8. Gee, I dunno - maybe if we stopped building condos and office complexes in their habitat ...

They were there first, after all .... just a thought.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. They have plenty of habitat left.

And I'm not advocating unlimited hunting in those areas. People live here now. That's the reality of the situation. We can't have these prehistoric monsters prowling around and jumping out at them when they least expect it. A 90 year old woman just had her leg bitten off and was nearly dragged to her death.

[FLPanhandle]

23. No they don't.

Besides an ever shrinking Everglades (which is dying). Where are all these wonderful habits without people? What we have left in this state (especially with our current governor) is minimal. There are now subdivisions backing up on almost every state park each of which is swarming with people walking around.

You keep saying there is lots of wild habit in the state. You are in direct contradiction with just about every scientist and environmentalist in this state. Maybe they are all wrong and you know of some hidden great area?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. Have you ever even been to Florida?

It's a beautiful, beautiful state, I'd say only paralled by Hawaii, but its natural areas are being lost rapidly due to sprawl and overdevelopment. It's not just alligators who have found themselves wandering into formerly natural areas....there's been a similar problem with black bears in the area around the Ocala National Forest as well.

[treestar]

58. Good luck with that one

And selling any significant portion of the American public on it.

[William769]

10. Do you know where Copeland is?

I would not call that a populated area.

[LWolf]

12. Even better:

Move the humans out of gator habitat.

Or humans can live IN gator habitat and accept consequences.

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. The locals had a chuckle when someone came up with the hairbrain

idea to put up a tourist resort on the most alligator infested lake in Central Florida.

Though, the idea does have some appealing aspects.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. Ever read "Team Rodent" by Carl Hiaasen? (A scathing attack on the Disney Corp.)

In it, he fantasizes about filling up the lake at Disney World with dozens of bull gators. I have to say, knowing about Disney's land buying con in the 1960s-70s, I'm tempted to do that myself.

[FLPanhandle]

35. Carl Hiaasen is a great author

Love his stuff

[LWolf]

57. I'll bet they did.

It might be an interesting experiment, if it could be controlled for the tourists. :evilgrin:

They could hold tea party rallies there. Maybe the Republican Convention next year.

[FLPanhandle]

18. Wildlife isn't the problem. People constantly encroaching on wildlife is the problem.

The only reason you think there are too many big alligators in Florida is that there are too many people in Florida.

There used to be a lot more big alligators here. Why weren't they an issue then? Answer: They had a lot more room.

[Yo_Mama]

43. They shot them

That's why they weren't an issue then.

Yeah, I know the area. And you know what? Crackers still shoot large gators in areas where they live. Cause you just can't live with them. They're great predators. They even climb pretty well - they make it over low fences without a problem.

[closeupready]

20. There are too many people in Florida encroaching on gator territory.

nt

[FLPanhandle]

25. Stupid response.

Those grizzly bear attacks out west...let's go kill them.
Those mountain lion attacks in California...let's go kill them.
Alligator bites someone...let's go kill them.

*sigh* Human beings can be so stupid.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. Let me as a Floridian say this: They were here LONG before us.

First in time, first in right.

We moved into THEIR habitat. Not visa versa.

If there's anything I cannot stand, it's the people from New York/New Jersey/Wherever who move down to Florida and who are outraged at the fact that there are --gasp-- alligators living here. And mind you, this is coming from someone who moved here from out of state as well.

[Lochloosa]

39. There were 13 fatal attackes in the DECADE of the '00's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks_in_the_United_States_by_decade

3 in the '90's
4 in the '80's
3 in the '70's....well you get the idea.

Gators are not blood thirsty "killers" looking to take out the human population. I have lived and swam with them all my life.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

44. Go to Shark Valley in ENP.

They'll be sitting, sunning themselves 5 feet off the path. You can walk by and they won't blink.

Out of the thousands who go to Shark Valley every year, I don't believe there's been an incident of one single unprovoked attack there.

[tblue37]

66. When my son went to the University of Florida (from Kansas) for his master's degree, he was shocked

to find that gators lived in the pond on campus, and people walked and biked right by them as the gators sunned themselves.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

67. I wonder if he ever checked out Payne's Prairie.

Last time I visited my parents up in Gainesville, I went there with my dad and counted no less than 50 gators in a mile stretch.

BTW, I went to do some studying at the University of Miami library, and I took a walk around campus. I saw what I thought was an alligator sunnying itself on the banks of the lake on campus. I later found out it was actually a crocodile.

[Odin2005]

48. maybe we should quit building stuff so close to the gator's habitat?

[Prometheus Bound]

70. Too many killer cars too. We need to get rid of those fuckers.

A major cull at least.

[JVS]

3. Those alligators can be wily fuckers.

[razorman]

4. A controlled hunting season might be a good idea. Alligators are no longer endangered,

so a way needs to be found to keep humans and gators separated, since we cannot co-exist. Once they get larger than about six feet, a gator becomes extremely territorial and very aggressive. This one most likely was not attacking a grown human for food, but to defend its territory against what it saw as a trespasser. I pray that the lady will be all right, but it will be amazing if a 90-year-old survives this sort of trauma.

[closeupready]

22. So how do you reckon they co-exist in Egypt?

Okay, so they're crocs, but similar point?

[razorman]

36. Good point. I apologize if my statement was a bit too general. I just meant that humans and gators

cannot mix their habitats too closely. I promise you that smart people do not swim in the Nile freely, without precautions; and crocs do not roam the streets of Cairo. The fact is that most crocodiles are to alligators as a grizzly is to a black bear, or a rottweiler is to a beagle. Still,gators are nothing to trifle with.
I do not consider simply living near each other to be "co-existing". By stretching that definition a little, you can say we are co-existing because we live on the same planet. But, a separation must be maintained, for the sake of both species.
I have seen both crocs and gators in the wild, but that does not make me an expert. Maybe I am wrong, and the world is really a Disneyesque place, where Mother Nature is a kindly, benevolent being, rather than the cruel, vicious bitch that I am familiar with. BTW, I do not mean any insult or disrespect by all this, but these are just my cynical views, I guess.

[closeupready]

37. Understood.

:hi:

[NashVegas]

51. Crocs & Humans Co-Exist?

Henri Coetzee may disagree

[spin]

50. There is controlled alligator hunting program in Florida ...

Statewide Alligator Harvest Program

Since 1988, Florida's statewide alligator harvest has been internationally recognized as a model program for the sustainable use of a natural resource. Each year, alligator management units are established with appropriate harvest quotas to provide recreational opportunities for Floridians and non-residents to take up to 2 alligators per permit. Applicants who are awarded a permit must submit payment for two CITES tags and an Alligator Trapping License, or provide proof of possession of an Alligator Trapping License valid through the end of the alligator harvest season. A Florida hunting license is not required to participate in the statewide alligator hunt.
http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/alligator-harvest/

[csziggy]

56. There is a controlled hunting season

But they do not have gator hunting in areas where people live.

Statewide Alligator Harvest Program
Since 1988, Florida's statewide alligator harvest has been internationally recognized as a model program for the sustainable use of a natural resource. Each year, alligator management units are established with appropriate harvest quotas to provide recreational opportunities for Floridians and non-residents to take up to 2 alligators per permit. Applicants who are awarded a permit must submit payment for two CITES tags and an Alligator Trapping License, or provide proof of possession of an Alligator Trapping License valid through the end of the alligator harvest season. A Florida hunting license is not required to participate in the statewide alligator hunt.

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/alligator-harvest/

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has gator trappers on call for reports of nuisance gators in populated areas.

Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program

If you need to report a nuisance alligator, call 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

The Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program strives to reduce the threat from alligators to people and their property in developed areas, while conserving alligators in areas where alligators naturally occur. The FWC contracts about 55 private nuisance alligator trappers to remove specific nuisance alligators. Individuals may call our toll-free number to submit complaints regarding nuisance alligators.

If the complaint meets FWC criteria, we will issue a permit to a nuisance alligator trapper to capture alligator. Please be aware that nuisance alligators are killed, not relocated. The person making the complaint must be able to allow the trapper access to the property. Many people enjoy viewing alligators, and we do not permit the removal of alligators from private property without a request from someone responsible for the area.

This program permits the removal of alligators that pose a threat to people, pets, livestock, or property. It is illegal for members of the general public to kill, capture or relocate nuisance alligators. In 2010, FWC received 14,418 nuisance alligator complaints. Nuisance alligator trappers were issued 10,784 permits and removed over 5,800 nuisance alligators.

Program News and Information

What is a nuisance alligator? Generally, an alligator may be considered a nuisance if it is at least 4 feet in length and poses a threat to people, their pets, or property.

Why don't you remove small alligators? Generally, alligators less than 4 feet in length are not large enough to be dangerous unless handled. They eat small fish, frogs, and other small animals. Typically, they are not large enough to be a threat to even small pets. The mere presence of a small alligator is not cause for concern. Occasionally alligators less than 4 feet in length are legitimate problems and must be addressed. If an alligator less than four feet in length is in a location that is not natural (such as a swimming pool or garage), call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/nuisance-alligator/

[mod mom]

5. "If found, the reptile will be cut open in an attempt to retrieve and reattach the leg"

Yikes! you would think the leg would be in very bad & germy condition.

[dionysus]

9. nah, a little febreeze and it'll be good as new

[Amaril]

30. Ok, that made me............

:rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

21. I hate to say this, but...she's 90. The odds of success even if the leg

is somehow in good condition is low. Risk of infection would be very high. It's also stressful on an old person's body to be subjected to a major surgery (have to have good kidney function, heart function, etc.). This is nonsensical.

[Aerows]

13. Alligators are to be feared

I lived in Florida and went to work one day and there was a six footer blocking the front door to the building. Do you think *I* am going to get out of the car? Oh hell no.

[A HERETIC I AM]

61. No, Alligators are to be used....

to make luggage, shoes and Etouffe'.

They're fucking lizards, for fuck sake.

Just don't kill too many of the wild ones at once and they'll make more.


"Alligators are to be feared"

Yeah, and so are Chihuahuas. Fucking yappy little useless pocket pooches.

Here's a way to avoid being hurt by an alligator;

WATCH WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE DOING!

[Aerows]

64. I can go along with some of those uses :)

Gator bites are pretty tasty (fried alligator chunks )

[WI_DEM]

14. Why would anybody want to live in Florida with all those gators!!

[teenagebambam]

16. There are plenty of reasons besides gators

To not want to live here.

[lpbk2713]

24. Gators are just one item on the list.

Consider rattlers, mocassins, coral snakes, scorpions, black widows, and then there are the non-native species that have been thrown into the mix by unconcerned previous owners like boas and pythons. It makes for a lot of fun not knowing what to expect when you go off the beaten path. :eyes:

[FLPanhandle]

26. We probably have more 90 year olds than gators down here.

Many of them still driving. They are more dangerous than the gators.

[Fuddnik]

38. I've never had a gator almost run over my motorcycle.

[Lochloosa]

41. [phone]

[Tommy_Carcetti]

29. You have to respect the state for what it is.

It can have hurricanes, alligators, sharks and other natural critters. And it gets hot in the summer.

But it can be beautiful. So, so beautiful. Hence why I wouldn't want to live anywhere but here.

The only thing I hate about this state are: 1. Its politics (Rick Scott? Allen West? Jeb Bush? Duh!) and 2. Its sprawl friendly "environment", which works directly against the state's best assets, that being its actual environment.

[shanti]

40. yes, and don't forget the snakes

yikes! sorry, but you couldn't pay me to live in florida.

[DirkGently]

71. Do you live in a snakeless state?

The only venomous reptiles that really hurt anyone here are Republicans and their developer pals.

[Lint Head]

17. This is nothing compared to Rick Scott and other Republicans cutting all

seniors off at the knees.

I really hope this lady recovers from her injury. It hard at that age to come back from trauma.

[closeupready]

19. Sounds like the film I just watched the other night, "Black Water".

Scaaaarrry. :scared: :D

I do hope she recovers as best she can.

[formercia]

31. Perhaps someone had been feeding the Gator

They become dangerous when they associate People with Food. In Everglades NP, one can get within 5 Meters of huge Gators and Salt Water Crocodiles without them showing any sign of aggression. I have some great pics taken at close range (with a Park Ranger standing by to make sure I didn't get closer than the 5 Meter limit). When they get used to being fed, they will approach people expecting food and can get quite irate when they don't get any. Myaka State Park is a good place to go if you want to experience big, grumpy Gators. The combination of lots of Gators, plenty of Fish and Idiots to feed them to the Gators, makes for a plentiful supply of Gator Meat because the contract hunters have to go out and dispose of them before someone gets hurt.

[L0oniX]

32. Was she eating a Snickers bar?

[DirkGently]

42. A sad incident. But kill all the gators? Or Florida is unliveable? Welcome to Earth. Things happen.

It's horrific this woman was harmed, and it was in no way her fault. Nor the gator's. It does sound like an attempt at predation, by the way. Gators don't go after everything in their "territory," absent a nest to defend. They're evolved to lie invisibly in shallow water near dusk, and wait for something to walk by. Floridians know this, but accidents happen.

But let's have a little perspective. 1,000 people are bitten by dogs each DAY, and several each year killed. No one suggests hunting down all dogs or fleeing the area. I don't have the statistics on cattle / horse attacks, but I'd be willing to bet more are hurt or killed by livestock each year than by gators, sharks, bears, and snakes combined.

Animals, wild or domestic, sometimes bite. But you're more likely to be injured by a pony or a golden retriever (or a human) than an alligator or bear or mountain lion or a rattlesnake.

And once again, let's ease up on the Florida bashing, please. We'd prefer our alligators over our demonic governor, homophobic legislature, struggling schools and economic climate of money-over-environment-and-everything-else any time. But those other things are hardly unique to the state.

Florida is also, despite everything, exceptionally beautiful. The Keys. The Everglades. The northern forests and beaches. Coastlines on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida has more first-magnitude springs (and accompanying crystal clear rivers) than any other state or any other nation in the world.

The explosively abundant wildlife is part of that beauty, and it persists, despite the hideous, haphazhard overdevelopment. An evening walk around my suburban tract home neighborhood at night can include whitetail deer, wild turkeys, owls, possums, raccoons. I've driven through entire states; spent a week there, without seeing anything close to the birdlife in a typical Florida retention pond. Ibis feed at our mailboxes here. Wood storks and Sandhill cranes wander the edges of parking lots. Great blue herons wade casually everywhere you look.

And we have snakes, and gators, too. Bears, if you can find them. A coyote, here and there.

All beautiful. All potentially dangerous. All part of the world. None requiring any action from us save to leave them be and appreciate them, and maybe watch where we step.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

46. I agree 1000% with everything you just said.

Nothing is wrong with Florida except its politics and its sprawl. You take those two things out of the equation, and this place is heaven on earth.

[DirkGently]

49. "politics and sprawl." That's about the size of it. Only the human "reptiles" here are ugly.

[FLPanhandle]

52. +1

Well said.

[Lochloosa]

53. Ah....Florida springs....let's go swimming with the gators..

Ginnie springs


Wakulla Springs

[DirkGently]

54. Juniper. Cape Canaveral

Juniper Springs run. Some of it is so clear and sandy it looks like the boat is floating on air. :) Gators here and there. Also saw a huuuge snapping turtle right under the boat. Looked like a manhole cover swimming by. And a deer on the bank.






This guy's got his own him-sized island in the preserve near the Canaveral National Seashore. Biggest I've seen in the wild -- (I estimate) over 9 feet and WIDE. He's almost always there in his spot. It's right by the trail. He doesn't seem to mind a few (cautious, quiet) snapshots from the shore.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

68. Florida's springs are truly some of the most beautiful places on earth.

Have you ever been to Ichetucknee? It's stunning.

I don't think I've ever seen an alligator in any spring itself....usually the 72 degree water is too cold for their tastes (although this might be different during the winter months). I have seen plenty in the runs leading to the springs, however.

[DirkGently]

69. Kayaked it this past winter (had tubed it as a college student). Spectacular.

It was coldish. Empty, save one other pair of kayakers. We found the bottom of the run and paddled the whole thing, up and back. No gators I recall. Saw two otters though. It's maybe the prettiest spring run I've seen, although parts of the Rock Springs / Wekiva run and Juniper come close. Loved that section with the limestone walls reflecting the water.

I get it when people deride Florida's horrible politics and haphazard development -- I agree. But I'd put the raw physical beauty of the wild parts of the state up against anything, anywhere. And the "wild parts" aren't that far away. I forget how rare it is to see this level of wildlife and birds everywhere until I travel to other states. Even beautiful places like North Carolina don't have anything resembling the profusion of fur and feathers we see every time we go out. I saw a single woodchuck and some Canada Geese on the French Broad near Asheville, but that was IT.

My hard drive runneth over with pictures of herons and egrets and gators. We have more bald eagles here than any state other than Alaska. We paddle with porpoise and manatee any time we want. It's an embarrassment of riches. Gators and snakes are beautiful too -- I think it's just that people accept the natural hazards, great and small of their own environments (like, say, blizzards and snow storms -- and can't imagine living with different ones.

But how many people die in the cold in Wisconsin, vs. alligator bites in Florida?

[Liberal_in_LA]

45. omg. poor woman

[aikoaiko]

47. And people thought I was silly for carrying a .357 in my golf bag in GA.

The water hazards in Georgia and Florida (and elsewhere) can be hazardous.

[DirkGently]

60. That's a biggun. Ahem. Maybe let those water balls lie, I think.

[Yo_Mama]

63. This Georgian doesn't - they're good hunters.

http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2004/r04-073.html

[DirkGently]

55. Update: Gator didn't eat the leg. It was amputated at the hospital.

] Ferraro said officers initially thought the alligator had swallowed Webb's leg, but that wasn't the case. Her leg was "barely attached" after the attack and was later amputated, Ferraro said.

That's an extremely traumatic injury, either way. Hope Ms. Webb recovers well.

[treestar]

59. What an awful thing to happen.

Especially when one has made it to 90 and still goes for walks!

[Fuddnik]

62. We had an incident a few years ago down here.

A tourist camping, swimming, and fishing area. And of course gators. People swam there for years, within eyeshot of gators, and nobody was ever attacked.

One kid, I believe he was about twelve or so kept fucking with the gators he was swimming with. People kept telling him to quit fucking with the gators. He kept splashing them, and tossing stuff at them and taunting them until he pissed one off.

The last thing anyone heard him say was, "No, No, I don't want to go"! Too late.

The shot eight gators that night, until they found the right one.

[Yo_Mama]

65. That's Darwinism in action

Seems like some adult should have stopped the kid, though!

But it's cases like this, and the young jogger, that are more worrisome.