Fisherman films frightening encounter with a giant alligator at the end of his line

Man has frightening encounter with alligator which are currently in their mating season

Clara Hill
Wednesday 12 May 2021 20:49 BST
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A Florida man gave up attempting to fish after coming across an alligator at the end of his rod.

A video posted on YouTube over the weekend showed Tommy Lee, 22 standing with his fishing pole, reeling in a potential catch. Everything seems calm and serene, the perfect image of a spring evening in The Everglades.

But the peace and quiet are disrupted when an alligator is seen coming out of the water.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Mr Lee is heard saying as the large reptile appears.

Like from a nightmare, Mr Lee is seen and heard falling to the ground while trying to get away from the gator.

Spring is mating season for alligators, which might explain why this particular gator was out and about.

“Well that put an end to my tarpon fishing,” Mr Lee said in the video, training his camera directly on the roughly 11-foot reptile.

Speaking to Click Orlando , Savannah Boan of Gatorland said: “It is not unusual during this time to see lots of alligator stories in the news, however, I’ve seen more alligator stories in the news this year than I ever have in the history of my living in Florida.”

On 31 March, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Twitter account posted footage of a rescue operation of a 10 ft alligator who had gotten stuck under a car parked at an apartment building in Tampa.

Authorities managed to safely get the alligator to a safe place, away from people.

According to December 2020 records from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, 26 people have died due to an alligator attack and 443 people have been injured by them since 1948.

Alligators are labelled as threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Commission and are most in danger in areas such as Florida. Their main predator is raccoons, who are believed to attack their nests. Alligator populations are also threatened by the fighting amongst themselves.

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