String Of FL Gator Attacks Prompts Warning From Photographer

SOUTH FLORIDA — A South Florida wildlife photograph reshared a terrifying video on his Instagram page — a territorial, bellowing gator emitting a deep, throaty growl.

Bobby Wummer initially took the video in 2019 by using a trail camera at a gator hole, though he didn’t name the exact location or swamp. (Watch the video below.)

With a string of gator attacks in Florida this summer, he shared the video to urge people to “use caution while out in the swamps and while fishing,” he wrote on Instagram.

Wummer, who is based in Palm Beach Gardens, added, “Alligators are extremely territorial and especially aggressive during mating season or while defending their young. This gator is doing what is known as bellowing. They bellow to with call their mates and or defending their territory.”

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A Timeline of Gator Attacks

Earlier this month, a 77-year-old woman was bit by an alligator near a pond in a gated community in Lakewood Ranch.

In early June, a man at the Warm Mineral Springs Motel in North Port was bitten after mistaking a gator for a dog on a leash.

That same month, a 47-year-old man was found dead in an alligator-infested lake at a Largo city park next to a disc (Frisbee) golf course.

In July, an 80-year-old Englewood woman was attacked and killed by a gator while pulling weeds along a canal retaining wall at Boca Royale Golf and Country Club.

Also in July, a Sarasota man had his arm bit off by a gator at Lake Manatee Fish Camp in Myakka City. He recently recounted how he survived lost in the woods on his own for three days after the gator bite.

A Tampa man suffered severe gator bite wounds to his head, face and chest while shooting an instructional video in Lake Thonotosassa in early August.

And Wummer is no stranger to dealing with aggressive gators himself. In April, he captured a video of a gator chomping down on his GoPro camera during a visit to Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee.

Living with Gators

As Florida weather and waters warm up in February and March, gators become more active in the Sunshine State as they search for food.

Gators become even more active in April and May, as mating season starts, when the weather is even warmer and pond water levels start to rise.

“They start to spread out and stretch their legs, so to speak, and go from pond to pond. That’s when you get more reports of them crossing golf courses and hopping from pond to pond,” Senior Officer Adam Brown told Patch.

Female gators tend to build their mound nests in late June or early July and lay between 32 to 46 eggs, according to the FWC website. Incubation of their eggs takes from 6o to 65 days and hatching takes place in late August or early September. Even after the eggs hatch, gators remain territorial over their young.

With many people having moved to the area from out of state over the last year, Brown believes it’s important to educate people on how to live with gators.

“If they’re from out of state, they’ve never had an encounter with an alligator. They don’t know the best practices,” he said.

The FWC recommends the following general alligator safety tips:

• Don’t leave food out that might attract them.
• Don’t feed alligators.
• Swim only in designated areas.
• Don’t swim at night.

When it comes to pets, dogs and cats are similar in size to the natural prey of alligators, FWC said. Owners should not allow pets to swim, exercise or drink in or near bodies of water and should keep pets on a short leash and away from the water.

People concerned about an alligator should call the FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

Generally, an alligator is deemed a nuisance if it is at least 4 feet in length and the caller believes it poses a threat to people, pets or property, according to the FWC. There are also situations when smaller alligators wind up in places that are not acceptable, such as swimming pools or garages, and must be removed.

Watch wildlife photographer Bobby Wummer's video of a bellowing gator in a Florida swamp: