Police in Lakeland, Florida, say they are investigating the scene of an “alligator incident” after a citizen saw what appeared to be a body in a gator’s mouth.
“The alligator swam off and the body has been recovered. No identification has been made yet on the body,” Lakeland Police Department said in a statement.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is on the scene along with an alligator trapper.
“It appears – prematurely, a little early – that maybe this body was in the lake more than a day from looking at the body,” Sgt. Gary Gross, a Lakeland police spokesman, told ABC15. “It doesn’t appear to have just occurred.”
Last week, police in the Florida Everglades said they discovered two alligators eating a dead body. As police attempted to recover the body, the vicious creatures lingered around. Police then called in a dive team to recover the remains, as authorities stood by with AR-15 rifles trained on the gators in case they tried to attack, reported the Orlando Sun-Sentinel.
Fatal alligator attacks are relatively rare, although there were three in 2015. In November 2015, a 22-year-old man was killed in Brevard County, Florida, ten days after he was reported missing.
Alligators can get to be 14 feet long and weigh more than 1,000 pounds, and will eat just about anything.
Florida ranks No. 1 for alligator attacks in the U.S.
“Encounters with alligators are increasing in the United States. Both severe injuries and fatalities can occur from an alligator attack. This study provides information on alligator attacks reported in the United States as well as infections that are commonly associated with alligator bites,” the U.S. National Institutes of Health says on its website.
“As the human population encroaches on the habitat of alligators, attacks and nuisance complaints increase. A uniform reporting system among states should be developed to obtain more complete information on alligator encounters,” it says.
