[quote] 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 ( [url]http://newspr.es/PVBBGP[/url] ).
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.[/quote]
[url]http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fla-man-lost-hand-charged-feeding-gator-16881834#.UBWSg0RnB5g[/url]
Well that was pretty stupid to hold a fish out for a giant teeth machine to lash out at.
[QUOTE=Zambies!;36998191]Well that was pretty stupid to hold a fish out for a giant teeth machine to lash out at.[/QUOTE]
Let alone going near a giant teeth machine.
I mean, it's a good law, but I think in this case losing a hand is punishment enough.
Oh, he was giving it a fish.
I thought he got his hand bit off and they were charging him with feeding it his own hand.
So he was baiting gators to show off to tourists? I'm trying to figure out how I can work the word 'master' in there so I can make a 'mastergatorbaiter' joke. Nothing so far...
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;36998468]So he was baiting gators to show off to tourists? I'm trying to figure out how I can work the word 'master' in there so I can make a 'mastergatorbaiter' joke. Nothing so far...[/QUOTE]
Master gator baiter charged with baiting gators with his mastery of gator baiting.
Blegh, it's hard without repeating words.
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;36998281]Oh, he was giving it a fish.
I thought he got his hand bit off and they were charging him with feeding it his own hand.[/QUOTE]
That was my first thought too, the thread title is a wee bit misleading. I agree with it being punishable to feed the gators, but it really does seem like feeding it [i]your own fucking hand[/i] is punishment enough, I'm with Bentham on that one.
snip
[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;36998281]Oh, he was giving it a fish.
I thought he got his hand bit off and they were charging him with feeding it his own hand.[/QUOTE]
I dunno why, but I laughed for a solid 3 minutes at this post, thank you.
and I didn't even know this was a law, and I've fed gators
Knowing, of course, that even if you escape the fate of this man, you will permanently teach the gators that "people = food" and lead them to stick around people?
Wow, people actually read this thread through, even with that rather misleading title.
Bravo Facepunch. Unlike that thread about the man being jailed for staying in jail.
Really? At no point did he consider that he could lose a limb or die?
I say let the guy go free. That alligator punished him enough.
[QUOTE=Bentham;36998275]I mean, it's a good law, but I think in this case losing a hand is punishment enough.[/QUOTE]
the issue with it is that it encourages gators to come close to human beings. this one, even worse so because it took a chunk of his hands. fla authorities do everything they can to keep gators and people safe in those environments - and if you don't punish this guy people will think "if i can hold my hand over the side and not get hurt it's fine, right?" wheras it actually encourages the gators to come closer and closer to people
aka
dangerous
so as shitty as it is to lose his hand, the law on this kinda necessitates enforcement
Having lived in Florida for a short while, not all of you may know how seriously Florida takes its laws concerning wild alligators. Alligators learn very quickly that human tour guides will feed them for show, and after a while they will neglect their natural eating habits and start to rely on tour guides such as the man in the OP. It's happened in Florida's past, and they're trying very hard to keep Florida's wild natural alligators exactly that; natural and wild.
[editline]30th July 2012[/editline]
In my opinion the man got what was coming to him, if he lived in florida he knew full and well this was both illegal and stupid.
[QUOTE=BrickInHead;37003467]the issue with it is that it encourages gators to come close to human beings. this one, even worse so because it took a chunk of his hands. fla authorities do everything they can to keep gators and people safe in those environments - and if you don't punish this guy people will think "if i can hold my hand over the side and not get hurt it's fine, right?" wheras it actually encourages the gators to come closer and closer to people
aka
dangerous
so as shitty as it is to lose his hand, the law on this kinda necessitates enforcement[/QUOTE]
And there's no better deterrent than not only risking life and limb, but a fine too.
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