Florida Man And Woman Seriously Injured In Alligator Attack

Alligator attacks are extremely rare here in Florida with only about 8 unprovoked attacks occurring each year on average but those statistics won’t matter to a man and woman who were attacked by an alligator in Polk County while kayaking. The woman suffered serious harm to her elbow and needed to be airlifted to the hospital.

At the time of the attack, the woman was paddling in a kayak in Polk County, Florida, the county that encompasses Lakeland, Legoland, and hundreds of lakes that are home to some of the largest alligators in all of Florida.

A 911 call following the alligator attack was released and shared on the news by WPLG Local 10. The caller can be heard telling the 911 dispatcher “we have two people bitten by alligators. The woman’s arm is bitten really, really badly and the other man I think was bit in the leg by an alligator.”

They go on to say that “when they try to move her arm to put the thing on, she’s screaming so she’s in too much pain to get the bandage on.” Dispatch then asked if the caller would like them to speak with the screaming woman…

There are a few instances under which an alligator in Florida is classified as a ‘nuisance alligator’ and will be captured and either relocated to a safe area or in some instances, moved into a breeding program if the alligator is old/large enough.

In the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, which is ran by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (MyFWC), a ‘nuisance alligator’ can be any gator that’s 4-foot or longer *AND* believed to pose a threat to people, pets, and/or property. An alligator isn’t a ‘nuisance’ simply by being 4ft or longer, that would be insane.

But if it’s that big and it poses a threat, it can be deemed a nuisance by MfFWC and relocated. Obviously, this alligator attack on 2 people would deem this gator to be a nuisance. And the local news reported that a state-certified alligator trapper was called to capture this gator. It’s unclear if it will be humanely dispatched or relocated.

While alligator attacks are extremely rare here in Florida, they’re rare because we Floridians pay alligators the respect they deserve. At least, most of us do. There’s a lake behind my house here in Southwest Florida that you couldn’t pay me to go swimming in because the water is dark and there could easily be an alligator lurking in there at any point.

The saying here in Florida goes that if there’s any body of freshwater then chances are there’s an alligator in it. With that in mind, it’s always best to exercise caution around lakes. Don’t swim in areas where alligators are known to be, which is most lakes. Don’t leave food out near lakes. Definitely do NOT bother alligators. Overall, use common sense when gators are in the area but we all know that common sense isn’t common these days. So be careful out there.