An Everglades airboat operator has been charged with illegally feeding an alligator that bit off his right hand, according to news reports.
Wallace Weatherholt, 63, was arrested Friday on the misdemeanor charge, according to our Gannett colleagues at the Fort Myers News-Press. He's scheduled to be in court Aug. 22.
Weatherholt, who works for Captain Doug's Small Airport Tours in Everglades City, was dangling a fish at the water's surface during a June 12 tour, an Indiana family told the Associated Press. A 9-foot-long alligator then lunged and bit off Weatherholt's right hand at the wrist.
State wildlife officers tracked and killed the gator. Weatherholt's hand was found in the reptile's stomach, but doctors could not reattach it.
The law against feeding alligators is intended to protect the creatures and humans, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer Jorge Pino. Over time, alligators lose their natural fear of humans when they are fed, and then pose a danger to humans.
"It's a very sad situation for Mr. Weatherholt, and we wish this never happened to him," Pino told ABC News. "But there are laws on the books to protect people from this exact incident."
"As soon as you say there's an alligator that's not afraid of humans, that's like signing a death warrant for that alligator," he added. "The more people abide by the rules on the books, the safer the gators will be, and more importantly, the safer the humans will be."
Feeding an alligator is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500 and possible jail.
Three weeks ago, an alligator bit off the lower right arm of a teenager swimming in the Caloosahatchee River in southwestern Florida.
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