GAINESVILLE SUN (Florida) 17 July 03 Gator near school bites man helping (Karen Voyles)
James Junior Sansom was trying to be helpful, but wound up with a bunch of stitches in his hand instead.
Sansom, 58, was reportedly trying to subdue a 6-foot-8-inch alligator that had wandered into an area near Ruth Rains Middle School in Cross City shortly before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"I didn't know you weren't supposed to touch them, but I didn't want him catching no young'uns," Sansom said.
"I was going to catch him by the head with a catch stick but somehow it went over his head," Sansom said. "I planned to tape his mouth shut and put him in a truck until the trapper got there, but he caught me by my left hand and bit me up good."
Sansom, a volunteer with the Dixie County Sheriff's Office Citizens on Patrol, was taken to Shands at the University of Florida where he got a tetanus shot and several stitches to close puncture wounds on his left hand. He also had scratches on his right hand and both forearms.
Sansom was injured while he and 10 or 12 other people were waiting for professional trapper Bobby Bass to arrive, according to Karen Parker, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Bass showed up at 8:40 p.m. and killed the animal. Parker said once alligators are longer than about 4 feet they are destroyed because relocating them can create problems with others that have already staked out a territory.
Parker said the best thing for anyone to do when they see an alligator is to call the wildlife alert line, which the commission answers 24 hours a day - (888) 404-FWCC (3922) or *SWC from a cell phone. The commission then will arrange for one of its trappers to deal with the alligator.
Gator near school bites man helping