Everglades airboat guide's hand bitten off by alligator in front of tourists

Updated


Video: Everglades airboat guide's hand bitten off by alligator in front of tourists
Video: Everglades airboat guide's hand bitten off by alligator in front of tourists

PA


An Everglades airboat captain had his hand bitten off by an alligator on Tuesday - in front of tourists he was driving around.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the victim was a 63-year-old man called Wallace Weatherholt, who worked for Captain Doug's Everglades Tours.

Witness Judy Chroniak-Hatt told abc-7.com that Weatherholt was dangling a fish over the side of the boat when the nine-foot alligator jumped up and grabbed before going back into the water.

The alligator then jumped up again, getting both its front feet inside the boat. Ms Chroniak-Hatt said she thought it was going to tip over, dropping herself, two other women, and two children into the water.

She says Weatherholt lost his hand when he tapped the water to try and make the alligator jump up again.

She told ABC News: "I was sitting there in the seat thinking, is this thing really biting him or is he playing a game."

Judy said Mr Weatherholt stayed very calm whilst waiting for a rescue team to arrive.

FWC officials caught and killed the alligator, even retrieving the hand from its stomach and sending it to Naples Community Hospital, where Wheatherholt was taken, but it could not be reattached.

Locals who knew the victim said he was a very kind man, but he could be charged with second degree misdemeanour and face a penalty of up to six months in prison.

The FWC said he put tourists' lives at risk, and that this is a reminder of why it is illegal to touch, harass or feed the alligators in Florida.

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