NAPLES, Fla. – A man is in the hospital after an alligator attacked him while he was on a walk in a community in Naples, Florida.
In a news release, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called out to the Forest Glen and Golf Course community Thursday morning after a man was attacked by an alligator.
According to deputies, the man was walking on Jungle Plum Drive just after 5 a.m. when a nearly 7-foot alligator went up to him and bit him in the leg.
“The first deputy who arrived on scene rendered first aid to the man. A second deputy spotted the gator leaving the scene and heading toward a nearby lake. The deputy kept eyes on the gator and was able to tell a trapper where it was located,” the sheriff’s office said.
The alligator was a 6-foot, 9-inch female, the sheriff’s office said, according to WTSP. The alligator was removed from the area even after it tried to make a run for it into a lake nearby.
The man was flown to a hospital for treatment, the news outlet reported. His current condition is unknown.
The sheriff’s office said that alligators tend to be more active between dusk and dawn. They recommend planning ahead of time to reduce chances of encountering them. They also suggest avoiding or being overly cautious around bodies of water and vegetation because female alligators may have a nest as it is alligator mating season. Officials say that it is not clear if this female alligator had a nest or not.
The name of the man has not been released.
