A homeless man is in the hospital following a grisly alligator attack in Florida. An alligator ended up taking half his arm, tearing it off in the attack. The man ignored warnings from locals about a nearby lake. He decided to take a dip at night when he was attacked.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an alligator bit the 31-year-old alligator man around 2 a.m. on Sunday in Seminole County's Lake Monroe. After losing his arm, he managed to escape the gator and get to shore. However, he ended up collapsing near the road.
Some people passing by rushed him to the hospital. Unfortunately, doctors amputated what was left of his arm after deeming it too savaged to save, according to FWC. Officials warned that the situation could have been avoided. A fisherman warned the homeless man about the lake prior to the attack.
"I was fishing down the bank. It was getting dark. And I saw something floating, probably 500-600 feet away," John Lawson, who was in his boat that night, told News 6.
Alligator Attacks Homeless Man
"I asked him if he was alright. I startled him. He said, 'Yeah, yeah, No. I'm good,'" Lawson said. "I kind of hung around for a minute just to make sure because it was strange going under the water." Likewise, he decided to call the cops on the man after his wife warned that the man may get hurt.
"I was like, 'Man, we're just trying to help you. You're out here in the dark, like you're either gonna get hit by a boat or eaten by a gator.' He said he wasn't worried about gators," Lawson said. However, the homeless man ended up getting mad and throwing objects at him.
Likewise, the homeless man ignored arriving officers. They offered him blankets and clothes, but he continued to swim and ignored their aid. In retrospect, he should have heeded their warning. According to the FWC, there are more than 1,200 alligators in Lake Monroe. One of those alligators decided to make him their next meal. The attack comes weeks after a gator dragged a homeless woman into the canal and ate her. Officials ended up dragging out and euthanizing the animal in that case.
