Beware of Alligators sign Florida resort

Alligator Severs Elderly Man’s Leg by Florida Resort Canal

The life-threatening injury to the 72-year-old is a stark reminder to never approach or enter bodies of water within alligator habitat.

According to local WESH 2 News, the Brevard County man is currently stable and recovering. But the attack cost him his right leg “from the knee down.”

The alligator struck from one of the main canals in the Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort near Titusville, Florida. A local resident, the man was walking close to the canal’s waters when the wild animal struck just before 2 PM last Friday, April 14. He was then airlifted to the Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne by EMS.

As a result, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers and Brevard County sheriff’s deputies engaged in active tracking through the canal. Armed with rifles, officials aimed to hunt and cull the alligator responsible.

Within minutes, “an alligator with a human foot clearly protruding from the end of his mouth could be seen skimming the water’s surface,” WESH reports. “At least four shots were fired, followed by a great deal of blood in the water.”

FWC officers retrieved the elderly man’s foot and part of the leg from the animal after it was shot.

Both the responsible alligator and another smaller gator were then loaded into FWC trucks to be hauled off the scene.

Residents Shocked, But Not Surprised, By Alligator Attack

“Basically, it’s in an area where the gators lay on the bank kind of readily. It’s only about 15 feet between the house and the water,” Ron Peoples, a resident of the RV community, tells WESH.

“Right now, it’s mating season and they’re hungry. It’s a pretty volatile combination when you put them together. We’re finding them in people’s garages under the cars, because they’re going from lake to lake. They’re looking for love,” Peoples adds.

Another resident, Sharon Maloney, used to be a paramedic before retiring to the resort. “I just heard that he did have a tourniquet applied, so that’s a good thing. I heard that he was alert when he went to the hospital,” she offered in the immediate aftermath.

“They did get the leg. It was with the gator that they know bit him,” Maloney adds. “So they’ve got both gators that were in that pond which they have to do, unfortunately. It’s what has to be done.”

Being a paramedic or simply a citizen in Florida means the type of familiarity with alligators that both residents display. With at least 1.25 million American alligators residing in Florida, the state has multiple programs that deal with “nuisance” gators that pose a threat to humans and domestic animals.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is investigating this incident in kind. Local residents know alligator attacks remain rare, but only because of wildlife education.

“They basically live here like we do. We just have to be respectful of them and cautious,” Peoples adds. And he’s absolutely right.

For further reading on the matter, see our Wildlife Watch: How Common are Alligator Attacks on Humans? next.