Woody
MegaDork
7/30/12 7:06 a.m.
...we mean it!
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2012/07/30/news/offbeat/659095.txt
Don't feed the alligators; violators will be eaten
EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. — A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 9-foot alligator faces charges of feeding the animal.
Collier County Jail records show 63-year-old Wallace Weatherholt was charged Friday with unlawful feeding of an alligator and later posted $1,000 bond.
Weatherholt was attacked on June 12 as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades. The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator attacked.
Wildlife officers tracked and euthanized the gator. Weatherholt's hand was found but could not be reattached. A criminal investigation followed. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.
— Associated Press
That sucks, but he knew better.
It would either be WAY cool or suck HARD to look at your had that was re-attached and knew it was in the belly of an alligator. I guess this guy can never tell us if it's cool or sucky.
Woody
MegaDork
7/30/12 7:25 a.m.
Kind of sucks for the alligator, too.
he can call himself captain hook now.... at least they killed the gator, so he does not need to worry about it coming back to eat the rest of him
Dumbass. That's something you learn young here in SC, don't mess with those things.
A few years ago me and my family went on an air boat ride in the everglades. At one point, the driver stopped the boat in a marshy area, and an alligator came up to the boat and propped his head up on the side of it. He opened his mouth wide open, not more than 2 feet from me, and the driver fed him a marshmellow. Then the alligator went back into the water and swam away. This was on an Indian reservation, so maybe it's okay to do that there, idunno. And obviously the alligator was used to this happening, but...
JoeyM
SuperDork
7/30/12 7:42 a.m.
The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator attacked.
Something tells me that just before that happened, he said, "Hey, y'all, watch this."
crazy flows south. We're much more normal than that in the middle of the state.
"Hey, y'all, watch this." - Famous last words...
Luke
UberDork
7/30/12 7:56 a.m.
Then they euthanized the alligator 
.
I'd be more sympathetic if it was a random attack...but the dude was offering it a fish. Probably an accident on the gator's part.
edit: oh, right, they probably wanted to retrieve the hand 
How did they know it was the same gator?
cwh wrote:
Stupid can get you hurt.
I was always told if you are going to be stupid you better be tough.
Poor alligator. Should have taken the useless head.
JoeyM wrote:
crazy flows south. We're much more normal than that in the middle of the state.
What is your explanation for Jacksonville then? 
93EXCivic wrote:
How did they know it was the same gator?
They followed the tick-tock-tick-tock
True story: Many years ago my New England raised family stopped at a roadside picnic area in Florida for lunch. There was a swampy creek, towards which my sister pointed and said "look, an alligator!"
My mother glanced over and said "that's not an alligator, its a log". She then picked up a stick, walked over calmly and whacked the object with some force to prove her point.
It wasn't a log.
Mom still has all of her parts attached, but over the years I've come to realize that is mostly just dumb luck.
peter
HalfDork
7/30/12 8:56 a.m.
bludroptop wrote:
Mom still has all of her parts attached, but over the years I've come to realize that is mostly just dumb luck.
If this isn't Say What? worthy, I don't know what is...
Wally
UltimaDork
7/30/12 10:07 a.m.
I think the rule should be if an animal gets any of your pieces it is their's to keep.
jstein77 wrote:
Anti-stance wrote:
JoeyM wrote:
crazy flows south. We're much more normal than that in the middle of the state.
What is your explanation for Jacksonville then?
Proximity to Georgia?
Good answer, more redneck and less zombie.
it was just a hand to aid digestion
Caution: strong stomach needed before clicking. Lake Moultrie here in SC a few years ago:
http://outdoorlife.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/18/alligator2l1709_468x330.jpg
Guy was snorkeling (obviously in the wrong spot) and was attacked. He wasn't trying to feed it or anything dumb like that.
My dad managed National Wildlife Refuges for a living. He said that once an animal associates humans with a food source, it doesn't take them long to figure out humans are a food source. That's why an animal that has attacked a human is euthanized. When we lived in Louisiana, he actually had to supervise two or three missions to trap & kill an alligator. He hated people who fed wild animals like he hated few things on Earth.
