Alligator-human encounters, once rare in Florida, are not uncommon

Nuisance alligator calls are a regular occurrence in Charlotte, Sarasota and DeSoto counties. When people call the police or Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation about an alligator in a driveway or walking through a community, wildlife officers often call licensed trappers to catch and remove the reptiles.

The trappers can relocate some smaller alligators, but most that are over a few feet long are sold for their meat and skins.

Alligators are known to lunge at dogs that may wander close to them, however, humans are generally not their intended prey.

There are “eight unprovoked alligator bites per year” in Florida, according to a report by the FWC, released in 2021. There were 442 “unprovoked bite incidents in Florida from 1948 to 2021. Of those, “26 of these bites resulted in human fatalities,” the state reports.

Five of those fatalities have been reported in the last 10 years, including Friday’s death at Boca Royale in Englewood.

Still, “serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida,” the FWC states.

alligator injuries

• A 39-year-old man was hospitalized after being bit on the leg by an alligator June 27 in a pond off Precision Drive near Interstate 75 in North Venice. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission stated the victim was wading in a pond, fishing at the time of the attack.

It was the second alligator bite in the area in a month.

• A Tampa man was bit on the head May 30, when seeking shark teeth in the Myakka River near Snook Haven east of Venice. Jeffery Heim, 25, of Tampa, said just minutes after getting into the river to search for shark teeth, he “got slammed.”

“It felt like I got hit with a boat going 50 mph,” said Heim, who was able to get away and swim to shore. “I thought I was going to die right there.”

• An alligator attacked a 14-year-old boy June 2, 2020 in a pond off Robin Road in the Rotonda Meadows & Villas subdivision between Englewood and South Gulf Cove. The boy had gone into the pond to swim. The boy and a friend had just gotten there and were getting through the weeds when the alligator bit the boy, officials said.

The boy was airlifted to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg where he was treated for lacerations and a fracture, according to reports.

• A 68-year-old homeless man, was bitten by a 9-foot alligator while bathing in a retention pond in Port Charlotte on July 24, 2017. He lost toes, a finger and testicle.

• A 34-year-old man was bitten by an alligator while wading in the Peace River in Arcadia on July 15, 2017. Russell Mendelsohn was bitten on the foot and drove himself to DeSoto Memorial Hospital. After the hospital contacted the FWC, trappers removed 6-foot, 11-inch alligator from that area of the river.

• A 10-year-old boy was bitten while swimming near that same spot in the Peace River on July 7, 2017.

• Earlier on July 7, 2017, a 10-foot alligator bit 51-year-old Scott Lahodik, while he was diving for golf balls in the lake off the sixth hole at Palms Course of the Rotonda Golf & Country Club.

• On Feb. 23, 2003, Helena Couto fended off an alligator on the grounds of Fiddler’s Green in Placida, near Englewood. Couto was clearing underbrush near a retention pond when 6-foot, 3-inch reptile lunged out of the water and attacked her, grabbing her right arm and pulling her toward the pond. Her right arm below the elbow was bitten off.

alligator fatalities

While many alligator-human encounters are close calls, some of Florida’s 26 fatalities involving alligators have been reported in this area, according to FWC:

• Sharon Holmes, a 16-year-old girl, was killed while swimming in a lake at Oscar Scherer State Park in Sarasota County on Aug. 16, 1973. The responsible alligator was an 11-foot, 3-inch male.

• George Leonard, 52, was seized on the arm by an alligator while swimming in the Peace River Canal in Charlotte County on Sept. 28, 1977. He died three days later of complications from the bite. The responsible alligator was 7 feet in length.

• Erin Glover, 4, was killed while standing alongside Hidden Lake in Charlotte County on June 4, 1988. The responsible alligator was a 10-foot 7-inch male.

• Samuel Wetmore, 70, was found dead at a pond near his home in Venice on May 4, 2001. His death was determined to be caused by an alligator that was was 8-feet, 4-inches.

• Kevin Murray, 41, was killed while swimming in an unnamed canal in Port Charlotte on July 15, 2005. The responsible alligator was a 12-foot, 2-inch male.

• Jardan Battle, 31, was killed while he was trying to evade the police by swimming across a retention pond in Fort Myers on April 22, 2019. The responsible alligator was a 10-foot, 3-inch male.

Anyone with concerns about an alligator can call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-392-4286.