Gator eats jogger too close to water

[Bigcypresshunter]

Medical examiner confirms woman jogger was killed by alligator in Sunrise

By John Holland & Akilah Johnson
sun-sentinel.com
Posted May 11 2006, 3:00 PM EDT


SUNRISE -- A Davie woman found floating in a canal near Markham Park was stalked and killed by an alligator, then dragged into the water, an autopsy confirmed on Thursday.

Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was apparently attacked on land and dragged into the canal near State Road 84. She received several traumatic injuries and lost two limbs in the attack, law enforcement agents and the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said on Thursday.



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The dismembered body was found near a bridge off S.R. 84 on Wednesday by construction workers. She was wearing jogging shoes and clothing. Officials said she went for a jog Tuesday evening and never returned home.

``It is my professional opinion that the alligator attacked the woman while she was on land,'' said Dr. Joshua Perper, Broward County's medical examiner. ``She died of traumatic injuries sustained by an alligator attack, a mixture of blood loss and shock, and in my opinion died very fast.''

Perper ruled out drowning because little water was found in her stomach and lungs

It marks the first fatal alligator attack ever recorded in Broward County. The attack also shows that the recent drought, coupled with the gator mating season and more construction in West Broward, has made human contact with alligators more common, experts said.

Earlier, Officer Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, said the department had witnesses who had seen a woman matching Jimenez's description dangling her feet over the water's edge, but no one saw an attack, Pino said.

"You really have two different scenarios coming together, said Kevin Garvey, whose company, Nuisance Wildlife Control, was hired to track down the killer alligator."The low water conditions mean that they are going to be traveling a little more, and you always have more activity when they are mating. I get callled out at least every day during this time of year.''

Garvey set up a trap and fishing line baited with pig's lung in hopes of luring the suspect gator, but he said his best shot will come at night as he patrols the canal by boat. The alligator is believed to be 8 to 10 feet long.

If captured, Pino said the contents of the gator's stomach will be examined.

Perper said the alligator appeared to have crawled on to land and killed Jimenez and then dragged her body into the water.

He said alligators generally pull their prey into the water.

``When they are hungry they can be very very aggressive and attack for food purposes,'' Perper said.

Being killed by an alligator is extremely rare. There have only been 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948 and none in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to the Wildlife Commission.

The most recent incident occurred in Port Charlotte when a 12-foot alligator attacked a 41-year-old man as he swam in a canal in July. Nearly a year before that, a 20-year-old woman was killed in Lee County while swimming in a retention pond. In 2004, a woman was attacked while on Sanibel Island.

In 1993, an alligator grabbed the head of Bradley Weidenhamer, 10, of Lantana, and dragged him into the Loxahatchee River. Bradley died despite efforts by his father and others to free him from the alligator's jaws in a remote site along the river in Martin County.

Experts say alligator attacks haven't become more common but man's interaction with the reptile has. As more land is developed to keep pace with Florida's housing boom, more wildlife habits are lost and alligators are more likely to wander into residential and commercial areas.

The lack of rain is also bringing more alligators out of the wild.

"The Everglades is very, very dry, so that means a lot of gators that were in the marshes are now in canals," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife scientist. "So probably everywhere you go in the western part of Broward County, there are more alligators in canals than there were a month ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report as did Staff Writers John Holland and Joe Kollin and Staff Researchers Barbara Hijek and William Lucey.

Akilah Johnson can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4631.

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Ba da Boom. The problem we are having with all predators is the loss of fear of humans. Gators have been protected and have made a huge comeback from the endangered species designation. They live to be 75 years old and have long memories. They should be afraid of humans, but are no longer. This gator was hunted down and killed yesterday,before he kills again. The older gators are scaring me, and this was never this way years ago. That 28 year old girl had no idea what was about to happen. They found her because they usually stash the prey and come back for it later when it is partially decayed. They do that with whitetail deer. This is a tradgedy, but people that live near dangerous wildlife need to be aware at all times.

 

[DigEmAll]

Moral of the story is : If you play in Gatorville, you enter the food chain.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

People buy lakefront homes in S. Florida but don't realize what lurks beneath the surface can hurt you. They have also developed a taste for unsuspecting MDers too close to the waters edge.

 

[diggummup]

There are an estimated 1-2 million gators in Florida alone.The more people feed them the more they will associate people with food.Given enough time,in the future they will be attacking when ever they see a human.A true "dinosaur".Nuisance complaints from alligators rose from 7289 in 1984 to 18,072 in 2004.The more people the more complaints.And the flood (of people) continues to rise.....

 

[surfrat96]

They caught the gator this morning and cut it's stomach open. Found a racoon, turtle shell, and 2 human arms.

HH 8) surfrat

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

They must be hungry. They killed an innocent gator before finding the culprit, with a raccoon, a football and several tennis balls in its stomach. (Harder to digest than turtle shells)

 

[diggummup]

I love that picture!

 

[hollowpointred]

Being killed by an alligator is extremely rare. There have only been 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948 and none in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to the Wildlife Commission



there havent been that many attacks that they know of. how many missing people (campers,fishermen) do you figure were eaten by alligators never to be seen again?

 

[DigEmAll]

Being killed by an alligator is extremely rare. There have only been 25 fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 1948 and none in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to the Wildlife Commission



there havent been that many attacks that they know of. how many missing people (campers,fishermen) do you figure were eaten by alligators never to be seen again?

Not as many as have been eaten by crawdads.... You ever seen what those critters can do to a person's body after it's in the wter a couple days? Not very pretty.



On a side note, I used to live in South Georgia in close proximity to a 7 or 8 footer that we lovingly called Charlie.... well, until Charlie made a nest and had babies, then she was Charlene. Eitherway, she was like a watchdog. We could come and go even while she was nesting, but other folks had better watch their step and keep their distance. They really do have a long memory and can associate people with friend and stranger. I wouldn't have believed it had I not been there. Anywho....

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Another jogger bites the dust! I just heard on the news that another girls body has been found in a pond with gator bites and another jogger is missing. I feel sorry for them.

I didn't know that about crawdads. Don't the buzzards get them first?

 

[ZumbroKid]

crawdads love any kind of meat.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Now that I learned how to copy and paste, y'all gonna regret it.
Well here's another story:


Florida marks third deadly alligator attack in less than a week

Jennifer Kay
Associated Press
Posted May 14 2006


MIAMI -- The bodies of two women, both apparently killed by alligators, were found Sunday less than a week after a similar death in a state that had seen just 17 confirmed fatal attacks by the animals in the previous 57 years.

A 23-year-old woman staying at a secluded cabin near Lake George was attacked while snorkling at a lakeside recreation area, said Marion County Fire-Rescue Capt. , said Marion County Fire-Rescue Capt. Joe Amigliore. The lake is about 50 miles southeast of Gainesville.



LocalLinks

"The people she was staying with came around and found her inside the gator's mouth," Amigliore said. "They jumped into the water and somehow pulled her out of the gator's mouth."

The woman, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her stepfather, who had tried to help her, was treated on the scene for a hand injury, said Amigliore.

In Pinellas County, the death of another woman whose body was found early Sunday in a canal 20 miles north of St. Petersburg also was blamed on an alligator, authorities said.

Judy W. Cooper's body had been in the water for about three days, authorities said.

The 43-year-old Dunedin woman suffered animal bites that were consistent with an alligator, which "did play some part in the victim's death," according to a preliminary autopsy. The cause of death was pending and the medical examiner's final report will not be released for at least four weeks, the sheriff's office said.

"We don't know the condition she was in when this happened," said state wildlife spokesman Gary Morse.

It was not immediately known why Cooper was in the area where wildlife officials said alligators are frequently spotted.

Authorities were baiting traps in their searches for both gators Sunday.

On Wednesday, construction workers found the dismembered body of a Florida Atlantic University student in a canal near Fort Lauderdale. A medical examiner concluded that the 28-year-old woman was attacked near the canal bank and dragged into the water.

On Saturday, wildlife officers captured an 9-foot, 6-inch alligator in Sunrise that they believe fatally attacked Yovy Suarez Jimenez while she was out jogging.

Suarez's death was the 18th confirmed fatal alligator attack in Florida since 1948. Nine other previous deaths are unconfirmed, mainly because it was not clear whether the person was already dead when the alligator attacked.

What provoked the attacks in three separate Florida counties was unknown, but state wildlife officials said alligators are generally on the move looking for mates and food this time of year.

"As the weather heats up, the alligators' metabolism increases and they have to eat more," Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Willie Puz said Sunday. "They might be moving more, but that just shouldn't mean increased alligator attacks."

Florida residents are warned not to swim in heavily vegetated areas, feed wildlife or walk pets near the water, especially between dusk and dawn when gators are more active, Morse said.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Just remember not to feed them or taunt them with a stick while treasure hunting

 

[nhbenz]

OK, fess up, who taught BigCypress to cut and paste?! This will not stand! Just kidddin'. I noted in the first article "The lack of rain is also bringing more alligators out of the wild."... this may be why we've noted a substantial reduction in the gator attacks up here in New England (we've been swamped with rain) ...and there I was thinking that this much rain was a bad thing. -Ben

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

NEW Florida marks third deadly alligator attack in less than a week
A woman snorkeling in a Marion County spring and a homeless woman trespassing in a Tampa Bay-area backyard were found dead Sunday in alligator attacks, bringing to three the number of fatal strikes in less than a week. The third occurred in Sunrise last week.

 

[holeintoe]

Heard on the news they caught a 9+ foot critter and when they opened up the stomach two human arms were inside. Case closed on the jogger killer

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Someone told me she was jogging at night.

A few yrs. ago a mother and son were bicycling in the Everglades Nat. Park bike trail and a gator pulled the kid off the bike and into shallow water. The mother beat on the creature until it let go, and saved her son. Many people have survived gator attacks by putting their fingers into the animals eyes.

Couple yrs. ago a hunter in Fisheating Creek forgot his bow so he left the canoe with his buddy to swim to shore and retreive equipment but was eaten.

Also a child on a boy scout canoeing trip left his canoe and was killed in front of many other scouts who tried to help.

 

[fldiver]

Gators can outrun horses in short distances but have to stop to turn, so run zig zag patterns away from them. They also get more active in spring after winter dormancy and it's their breeding season. If you see an animal carcass hung up or stuffed under a log don't go near it because gators guard their kills. If you wanna get an idea how many are there go to the lake at night, hold a flashlight at eye level and see how many eyes are staring back at you. Those things add a whole new level of thrill when I go artifact diving. LOL Yake care, fldiver

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Another gator story:
Deputy's shot gets this alligator really angry

Associated Press
Posted May 17 2006, 2:40 PM EDT


NEW PORT RICHEY -- Another day, another alligator encounter in Florida.

A Pasco County sheriff's deputy fired a rifle shot at a 9-foot alligator that wandered into a yard in a suburban neighborhood Monday, trapping a 75-year-old woman in her home. The .223-caliber round pierced the reptile's head, but didn't slow it down.



LocalLinks

``It didn't hurt him,'' said Mickey Fagan, a professional gator trapper who arrived a few minutes later. ``It just made him mad.''

Fagan caught the gator on a metal hook, taped its mouth shut and wrestled it into his trailer. It was just another day for the trapper, who says he's killed more than 60 alligators since March 18.

Fagan was back on the job Tuesday in another Pasco neighborhood, trapping an 11-footer that had ventured near some homes.

Calls to the state's nuisance alligator hot line have spiked in recent days, following three fatal attacks in a week. Wildlife officials say gator encounters are becoming more common as the state's population grows and drought sends the reptiles in search of wetter places.

On Sunday near Bradenton, a woman grabbed a handgun and fired four shots at a 3-foot alligator that attacked her golden retriever. The gator wasn't seriously hurt, but the woman got a warning citation for hunting without a license.