Florida Man in Shock After Alligator Knocks on His Door and Bites Him
The man was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The alligator was euthanized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
A nine-foot-long alligator approached the house of Scot Hollingsworth, who was watching TV with his wife. The animal made a noise at the door, and when Hollingsworth opened it to see what the sound was about, the reptile bit his leg.
According to local media outlet ClickOrlando, Hollingsworth said he heard a bump at his door. “I jumped up and headed over and opened the door, stepped out while trying to reach the lights and barely got out the door and got my leg clamped on and [it] started shaking really violently.”
The 56-year-old said that he had never had any problems with the wild animal before. “We see alligators behind our house, it’s a regular thing, but they always keep their distance from us.”
The animal ended up being slaughtered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“It happened so quickly, wasn’t a whole lot [of time]. It was just total surprise and shock… I suspect I surprised the alligator as much as he surprised me,” Hollingsworth said. The man was bitten on the upper thigh and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
In related news:
Spring alters the blood
Apparently, encounters between alligators and humans are more frequent in spring, said Frank Robb, a reptile specialist with more than 30 years of experience, per ClickOrlando.
“Their hormones, which are actually very similar to ours, ramp up twice a year. This happens to coincide with spring and fall,” said Robb.
“They’re just more active this time of year, and you start to see more human conflict with them kind of crossing paths, the more homes that are being built, the more things that are going on, the more you see them walking around doing stuff.”
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Hormonal brawls
Hormonal processes lead alligators to fight amongst themselves. “They’re having fights with other alligators and wanting to get up and move for that reason. Right now, we’ve been dealing with both,” said Robb.
Mike Hileman, the wildlife park director, believes that education is the key to living with predators nearly nine feet in length.
“It’s a top predator that can get very large, and they can be kind of scary, but through education and being self-aware of your surroundings, we can coexist with these things.”
Despite being bitten by the alligator, Hollingsworth said he would have preferred the animal to survive.
“I worked on a farm growing up and have been out in the wildlife my whole life you know, I love seeing the animals, but not that close. It was a little too close for me,” he said.