A man in Florida opens his front door and is bitten by an alligator | Abroad

The Hollingsworth family had previously seen alligators near their Daytona Beach home. It’s no surprise, more than a million crocodilians live in the state of Florida alone. The animals regularly sit in the pond behind their house, but they have never come so close to their house.

According to local police, Scott Hollingsworth opened his front door Saturday night because he heard a noise he thought was someone looking for his son. “I walked out with no lights on and something grabbed my leg and started shaking violently,” Hollingsworth told AFP days after the incident. CBS NewsMiami. At first he thought of a dog, but it turned out to be a large alligator.

The man does not know exactly how big the animal was. He estimates somewhere between 1.80 and 2.10 meters. “I couldn’t see well. As soon as I realized what it was, I entered the house and closed the door. I looked down and saw I had a big gash on the side of my leg.” Hollingsworth was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery on his damaged leg. ,,Fortunately I have no knee pain, I was afraid of that. Everything’s good.”

The animal, which was likely even larger than the victim’s estimate, was euthanized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Aggressive alligators regularly make the headlines – no later than an 85-year-old woman was killed while walking her dog – but how often do these attacks really occur?

The FWC, which is responsible for wildlife management in Florida, says alligators rarely attack humans. According to the organization’s figures, there were 442 unprovoked alligator attacks between 1948 and 2021, 26 of which were fatal. Calculated over the last 10 years, there were 8 incidents per year that were so serious that medical attention was needed. The probability of a Florida resident being seriously injured in an alligator attack is estimated by the FWC at 1 in 3.1 million.

Over the past 10 years, the FWC has received up to 16,000 complaints about alligators, most involving wildlife in ponds, canals, creeks and streams, some in garages, swimming pools and ponds. golf courses. The FWC attributes the large number of reports to strong population growth in recent years. “Many people are looking for a home on the water and water recreation is popular, increasing the potential for conflict,” the organization writes in an information brief.