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
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, as he was playing in a swimming hole off Alligator Alley near Everglades Boulevard. Delano later was fitted with a hook and a prosthetic hand but told the Daily News later that year that he mostly avoids using it.
More recently, 90-year-old Margaret Webb lost her left leg below the knee in August after being attacked by an alligator while she stood in the front yard of her Copeland home.
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Comments » 14
1Paradiselost writes:
"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"
Just another stupid redneck!
ratsnake writes:
Yep. They know they're not supposed to do it, many of their customers know they're not supposed to do it, but they do it anyway, and then when they get bit, the gator gets killed for it.
Seawaller writes:
I also took my kids on an airboat ride years ago and the guide actually grabbed small gators and lifted them out of the water. That's when I decided I needed to learn how to operate that boat because I doubted the guide would make it back in one piece.
MarcoBiker writes:
Argh .... looking for a role in the next "Pirates of the Carribean" series. Don't worry, Obamacare will get him a nice new shiney hook.
1Paradiselost writes:
Question.. What does Obamacare have to do with someone being stupid!
BTW.. You have to pay individual premiums to be covered under Obamacare. That's the rub with republicans.
I'll bet this guy has been working under the table for years and not paying taxes. I'll go ever farther, I bet he has NO health Insurance... so you and I can pay biker!
KlausStoertebeker writes:
I guess it is your personal life!
KlausStoertebeker writes:
I guess if that stupid thing happened to you stupid, you are the first who slipped under Obamacare. Typical American stupid.
KlausStoertebeker writes:
The American taxpayers pay for 85% of this rednecks never paid for their health insurance one penny. But they believe they are great people. They are not. They are parasite freeloaders.
MarcoBiker writes:
Oh oh, Klaus is off medications again .....
marco826 writes:
Any way you cut it, (no pun intended) if you play with fire....
KlausStoertebeker writes:
NO! I have health insurance.
Ruger writes:
Interesting that you have issue with this 'certain group of people', so much for 'Tolerance' eh?
And btw, they are called Florida Crackers.
Ruger writes:
Let's count the ways...
They had to 'pass it to find out what was in it'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoE1R-...
Most of America want the mandate repealed.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/quin...
And conflicts of interests are ignored of course..
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/holde...
Holder Refuses to Provide Testimony on Kagan’s Involvement in Obamacare
1Paradiselost writes:
FROM NAPLESNEWS.COM
"The employer of an airboat captain who lost his hand to an alligator has set up a donation account to help with the man's medical expenses".
Ruger, this guy needs Obamacare! I was right when I said "I bet he has NO health Insurance"
Some people just expect others to pay for their doctors bills. So Ruger both you and anyone reading this will have to pay for this dumb cracker clown thru higher Ins. rates... Just great!
If he was forced to pay for insurance they would not be looking from donations. Let's see so far NO Insurance, No Workmans Comp, Does he even pay taxes?
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