Thursday, July 15, 2010

If a Gator Ain't Botherin' Ya, Don't Mess With It.

[Dirk Alan Willms, 44, has bite marks on his leg, he has bite marks on his hand and he has a citation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charging him with possessing an alligator, commission spokeswoman Joy Hill said.

Willms spotted an alligator crossing a road in Sanford Monday night and decided to catch it, Hill said. The gator was trying to get to some nearby water, she said.

He grabbed the 45-inch gator by the tail, but the gator whipped around and bit him on the leg, Hill said. Willms dropped the reptile and it crawled into some nearby bushes, she said.

Willms, whom officers said appeared to be intoxicated, didn't learn his lesson from the first bite, Hill said. He reached into the bushes to try to grab the gator again and was bitten a second time, she said.

When Willms finally caught the gator, he put it in his truck and drove it to his home in the 500 block of Lemon Street near Sanford, Hill said.

Someone saw him with the gator and called the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, which in turn contacted wildlife officers.

Commission officer Naomii Tye issued a citation to Willms for possessing the alligator. That is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine...

"The moral of this gator tale is if something isn't bothering you, leave it alone," Hill said.]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-gator-bites-man-sanford-20100714,0,4536941.story

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