gator attack - pass the buck

Useless....just useless

APOPKA, Fla. -- Three days after surviving an alligator attack while swimming with his 7-year-old son at a state park, an Orange County man wants to know why authorities still have not warned the public about the potentially dangerous animal.
"I felt a gator's mouth clamping down on my head. So, with all my strength, I reached up and I pried the gator's mouth off my head," said David Bostwick while resting at his home Monday evening. "It's the kind of thing you think can never happen to you."
Fifty stitches and a few staples later, Bostwick said he's grateful to be alive to tell the story of how he escaped the jaws of a Florida gator. Last Friday, he took his son canoeing in the Wekiva Springs State Park. The pair got out to swim not far from King's Landing near Kelly Park.
"(The alligator) was biting me from behind and I pried the gator off," he recalled. "He was actually big enough to get my whole head in his mouth."
Bleeding, Bostwick and his son jumped in the canoe and paddled to shore. A homeowner about 100 feet away took them to a nearby fire station, and paramedics took him to a hospital. Despite contact with several agencies, no one ever called to get the gator.
"I couldn't believe that Monday we started calling and absolutely nothing had been done," he said. "The park and all these places had been open -- business as usual all weekend."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed it is investigating what happened but had no record of the incident until Monday afternoon when the victim's wife called. A spokewoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which overseas the state park, referred questions to FWC.Visitors to the park, hoping to go tubing downstream, had no idea.
"It's kind of scary to think that nothing happened to deter people from coming in," said Samantha Shye. "We were not even notified when we came into the park."
"It won't deter me from being here because I'm used to it," said Nick Cazessus. "But I think they should warn people because I saw plenty of people with kids."

Useless....just useless

APOPKA, Fla. -- Three days after surviving an alligator attack while swimming with his 7-year-old son at a state park, an Orange County man wants to know why authorities still have not warned the public about the potentially dangerous animal.
"I felt a gator's mouth clamping down on my head. So, with all my strength, I reached up and I pried the gator's mouth off my head," said David Bostwick while resting at his home Monday evening. "It's the kind of thing you think can never happen to you."
Fifty stitches and a few staples later, Bostwick said he's grateful to be alive to tell the story of how he escaped the jaws of a Florida gator. Last Friday, he took his son canoeing in the Wekiva Springs State Park. The pair got out to swim not far from King's Landing near Kelly Park.
"(The alligator) was biting me from behind and I pried the gator off," he recalled. "He was actually big enough to get my whole head in his mouth."
Bleeding, Bostwick and his son jumped in the canoe and paddled to shore. A homeowner about 100 feet away took them to a nearby fire station, and paramedics took him to a hospital. Despite contact with several agencies, no one ever called to get the gator.
"I couldn't believe that Monday we started calling and absolutely nothing had been done," he said. "The park and all these places had been open -- business as usual all weekend."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed it is investigating what happened but had no record of the incident until Monday afternoon when the victim's wife called. A spokewoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which overseas the state park, referred questions to FWC.Visitors to the park, hoping to go tubing downstream, had no idea.
"It's kind of scary to think that nothing happened to deter people from coming in," said Samantha Shye. "We were not even notified when we came into the park."
"It won't deter me from being here because I'm used to it," said Nick Cazessus. "But I think they should warn people because I saw plenty of people with kids."

What exactly are you referring to as "useless?". In the parks I work, there are signs that say "alligators" "beware of alligators" "no swimming". There are rangers who when asked, tell people about the almost daily sightings of alligators including one that is 8 foot long. What is the result? Almost everyday I have to tell people to get out of the water.
On a daily basis, we have a large number of people who either rent canoes, bring their own, or put in at a point upstream from the park and travel far outside the park's jurisdiction. The story says they were canoeing and were near Kings landing near Kelly park when they decided to swim (they weren't inside the state park when it happened). In these cases, FWC is the proper agency to investigate the attack and any additional followup. Please be more clear when you make a statement about what you mean.

Both agencies are useless, that's what I mean. Neither could answer any basic questions about what happened.

I agree 100% - both of these agencies are useless. Especially DEP. I do like the big cowboy hats FWC wears, though.

What do you expect look at your leaders

I agree 100% - both of these agencies are useless. Especially DEP. I do like the big cowboy hats FWC wears, though.

You are truly an idiot. You keep coming on here answering your own posts since no one else will agree with you. Get back to work, burger boy. :devil: :devil:

Both agencies are useless, that's what I mean. Neither could answer any basic questions about what happened.

Next time you see a DEP or FWC officer,why don't you tell them???? Chicken$hit. ops:

This is the exact reason why DEP and FWC need to be merged. It is going to happen next year.

This is the exact reason why DEP and FWC need to be merged. It is going to happen next year.

??????. Maybe I missed something, you stated this is the exact reason DEP and FWC need to be merged? You forgot to give the reason. MI6, alias Burger Boy, you have a bad habit of making statements without any supporting information or facts. If you want to be taken serious, lose the incendiary statements or half facts. This is a LEO board and real LEOs (not Ronald McDonald deputies like you) appreciate an honest exchange of ideas particularly if it is law enforcement related and not just character assassination.

M 16 and similar posters are brownies of your fearless leaders or one of them and on this site to keep intelligent conversations from happening. Their intent is to inject M 16 conversations into your site so you will not talk about what is really going on in your trouble ridden agency like your demotions firings and the like. Looks like it is working.