I love gators ....especially the baby ones ....... cute as hell !!!!.....but.....at the end of the day it will grow into a big mother fucking gator ....... which will in the end ......kill prey ...it is what they do .......and when they have kids .........they become protective species ....it is a florida native ....and a bad ass animal ..... i mean i do not think they should be destroyed ...... because they ate a human being .....it is called bad luck ....real bad luck!!!!! ........no one preps for a untimely death with a gator .......they just do not like human beings ......wild animals do not like us ....... they see us as a snack .....apperitif !! .....din dins !!!!!......desayuno......or a chicken drumstick ....we must taste delicious to them ...... they do not seem to waste any of us once we are eaten ......nic and fucking crunchy .....we have lots of bones .......florida love or leave it ....its gator world and i should know ...i have one in my pond .....and it has babies so once it raises them hopefully it will move on ....or not who knows but it is a fucking bog one .....it does not bother me .....so let it have it's babaies ........
Fisherman, 71, killed by enormous alligator while posing for photo with his catch on banks of Florida lake
An elderly fisherman has been killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the banks of a popular lake in central Florida.
Steven Hamilton, 71, was mauled to death by the 12-foot predator beside Lake Apopka in Dr Bradford Memorial Park in front of horrified witnesses on Friday.
He was holding up his fish for a photograph when the alligator pounced on him and dragged him into the water, according to one observer, Beatrice Soto.
'He caught a bass. He held it up for whoever it was to take a picture of him, and the gator came up and grabbed him by the leg and pulled him in,' Soto told WFTV9.
Hamilton, who was a seasoned fisherman from Winter Gardens and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit, died from his injuries at the scene.
Emergency responders said recovering Hamilton's body from the water was a lengthy process because several gators were circling in the lake after he died.
Video of the aftermath shows a dozen trappers wrangling the alligator that killed him from the water.
Officials dragged the animal by its mouth from the banks of the lake across the grass bank nearby before shooting it dead.
Steven Hamilton, 71, of Winter Gardens, Florida, has been killed by an alligator while posing with his catch on the banks of Apopka Lake in Dr Bradford Memorial Park, close to Orlando
Video shows a dozen trappers wrangling the alligator that killed Hamilton from the water. Officials dragged the animal by its mouth from the lake before shooting it dead
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head taken as evidence.
Locals at the park said Hamilton was a regular at the popular fishing spot.
'He was out there almost every single night fishing,' said Connor Kelley told WESH2.
'Every time it was a, "Hey Steve, how's it going?" You know, just checking in.
'He was a very kind man. Very relatable. I heard from someone else in town that he had helped her kids with fishing down there a few times.'
Jason Handley, another regular fisherman at the park, said he arrived at the scene on Friday shortly after hearing about the attack.
'As I was leaving to go home, I heard someone say apparently it was an older gentleman who fishes there every night,' he said.
'Just immediately my stomach dropped because I was so worried it was Steve, and it turns out it unfortunately was.'
Florida officials said the alligator was decapitated and its head taken as evidence
Hamilton was a seasoned fisherman from Winter Gardens and a veteran musician on the Orlando circuit. He is pictured center right with his bandmates from Bone Bros Band
Orlando native Christine Pompilio said Hamilton was 'well known in the music industry here in the Orlando area' through almost four decades of playing in local bands.
Pompilio, who is managing partner at Jax 5th Avenue in Lake Mary, said Hamilton used to play at the venue with Bone Bros Band.
'He was very, very talented, played different instruments, and would share all that knowledge with everybody that came along and joined in,' she told WFTV9.
It comes less than four months after 31-year-old Brittany Clark was killed by a 12-foot alligator in another nature spot just outside of Orlando.
Clark had been enjoying a hike in the picturesque Little Big Econ State Forest with her boyfriend and friend when they took a dip in a river in June.
Chilling 911 audio from the scene previously revealed how an alligator stealthily approached the trio before viciously attacking Clark by tearing off both of her arms.
A medical examiner's report obtained by the Daily Mail also gave more details about Clark's final moments, including how her boyfriend heroically fought the gator even as it dragged them both underwater into a 'death roll'.
It comes less than four months after 31-year-old Brittany Clark (pictured) was killed by a 12-foot alligator in another nature spot just outside of Orlando
A 'death roll' is a technique alligators use to subdue prey by violently twisting onto their backs before attempting to pull the victim underwater to drown them.
The report describes how Chance Allison risked his life and eventually managed to pry his girlfriend from the gator's jaws – but it was too late to save her.
Alligator attacks on humans are rare in the US, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission, but alligators are more territorial during mating season, which lasts from April until the end of June.
