Florida man who lost hand charged with feeding gator

[logdog]

A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 9-foot alligator faces charges of feeding of the animal.

Collier County Jail records show 63-year-old Wallace Weatherholt was charged Friday with unlawful feeding of an alligator and later posted $1,000 bond. His next court date is Aug. 22.

The arrest was first reported by the Fort Myers News-Press.

Weatherholt was attacked on June 12th as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades. The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator attacked.

Wildlife officers tracked and euthanized the gator. Weatherholt's hand was found but could not be reattached.

A criminal investigation followed. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.

[gerryann]

Guess he learned a lesson the hard way......

[firewalkerb3]

Bone head

[Barefoot]

A Florida airboat captain whose hand was bitten off by a 9-foot alligator faces charges of feeding of the animal.

Collier County Jail records show 63-year-old Wallace Weatherholt was charged Friday with unlawful feeding of an alligator and later posted $1,000 bond. His next court date is Aug. 22.

The arrest was first reported by the Fort Myers News-Press.

Weatherholt was attacked on June 12th as he was giving an Indiana family a tour of the Everglades. The family said Weatherholt hung a fish over the side of the boat and had his hand at the water's surface when the alligator attacked.

Wildlife officers tracked and euthanized the gator. Weatherholt's hand was found but could not be reattached.

A criminal investigation followed. Feeding alligators is a second-degree misdemeanor.

A 63 year-old Airboat operator, presumably experienced around gators ....
How could this man have acted so stupidly? A sad story indeed.

[Bryan]

Nice to see that the long arm of the law is getting this air boat operator the reward that his stupidity deserves. The gator helped too!

[2BNTV]

I feel sorry for this man. He paid a heavy price and now is going to be fined adding insult to his injury. :sad:

[gerryann]

How are they gonna handcuff him?? :22yikes:

[2BNTV]

How are they gonna handcuff him?? :22yikes:

:a20: :a20: :a20: :BigApplause:

Forgive me. I just hit the funny bone the rght way.

[buzzy]

how are they gonna handcuff him?? :22yikes:

rotflmao

[Barefoot]

How are they gonna handcuff him?? :22yikes:

:evil6:

[logdog]

Y'all missed my point. Feeding gators in Florida is illegal and the gator was killed as a result.

[Rebel Pirate]

A 63 year-old Airboat operator, presumably experienced around gators ....
How could this man have acted so stupidly? A sad story indeed.

I'm always amazed that older people are accorded some level of credibility for their "experience" just because they have lived to a ripe old age. I remember one story about a 70 year old man who suffered horrific burns over much of his body due to a fueling accident. He was pumping gasoline into his pickup truck while smoking his cigarette. The newspaper quoted him from his hospital bed saying something like "I've been smoking while fueling my car/truck for 50 years and this never happened before."

Moral of the story...just because you've "gotten away with" doing something stupid for a real long period of time doesn't mean it wasn't always stupid!

[gerryann]

Y'all missed my point. Feeding gators in Florida is illegal and the gator was killed as a result.

I do feel bad for the Gator. It's not his fault that he was offered a hand for a snack. Not all of the counties in Fl. killl the gators. Some of the counties take them to preserves. I lived in Lee county right next to Collier county....when I had an agressive gator, I called the one that moved them without killing them. And by aggressive I mean chasing people or animals that were NOT attempting to feed them or catch them. Not terribly long ago I had a 9 ft gator chase me. He was rummaging in a dumpster. When he saw me he turned towards me and ran at me VERY, VERY fast.

Gators need to be respected. They come out of their natural habitat because man is forcing them out.......now this guy should have known better.

[Barefoot]

Y'all missed my point. Feeding gators in Florida is illegal and the gator was killed as a result.

It's a darn shame to kill a gator just because a stupid Airboat Captain was teasing him with food, which is illegal. The gator was just responding like a gator. The Airboat Captain acted irresponsibility and is being charged accordingly. I think they killed the gator to get the hand so they could try to reattach it.

You're right Rebel Pirate, this Airboat Captain acted in a dumbass way. I feel sorry for the family from Indiana that he was trying to impress. What a horrific thing to witness. That will be one vacation memory they'll want to forget.

[firewalkerb3]

I assure you this was not his first time at doing this. Your just asking for trouble when you take a alligator for grained. Alligators eat and sleep, that's it. I know so many people who think they are like one with the gator. And might just be one day, because that's a one sided conversation. And the gator is setting it out. I'm don't believe in total aratcation of alligators, however cohabitation with alligators and human's without understanding you accepted the risk. Is leading you down the path for some hard to swallow reality. The odds of and unfavorable encounter are reduced if you use good common horse scene. That little voice that only you can hear, telling us that danger and harm surrounds our actions. Is all the reason not to engage in nothin more then watching alligator from a safe distance. And even with all of us doing the right thing, we will continue to encroach on the alligators habitat. The gator will be evicted, in the name of growth. Not all alligators are destroyed, and all needing removed are approched with the intention of relocating.