Bonus points in the follow up article about the only other recorded idiot to get bitten by an alligator in the entire state.

Honorable Mention Nominee(s).

Last updated: July 03. 2005 11:24PM

Man bitten by alligator in Greenfield Lake

By Ken Little Staff Writer ken.little@starnewsonline.com

Maybe Floyd Masters didn’t taste good. No one will ever know why a 10-foot alligator that chomped down on the Wilmington man’s right arm Sunday afternoon in Greenfield Lake decided to let him go.

But it did.

Mr. Masters, who is about 40 years old, told police he was swimming in Greenfield when he was attacked by the powerful reptile near a wooden observation deck overlooking the lake off West Lake Shore Drive near Woodlawn Avenue.

Mr. Masters was treated for unspecified injuries Sunday night at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. They are not life-threatening, police Lt. J.D. Varrone said.

Little to do with the incident made sense to eyewitness Mike Core, who was standing on the deck with a friend when he saw a man go into the lake behind the city pumping station.

“This dude jumped in the lake and we saw him bobbing along in the water and we saw the alligator coming,” Mr. Core said.

The alligator made a beeline toward the disturbance in the water created by Mr. Masters.

“It latched right on to him. It was cutting right across the water and it got him,” Mr. Core said. “I kept telling him, ‘The alligator’s coming. Get out! Get out!’ ”

Mr. Core and his friend were able to get Mr. Masters away from the shoreline, and he used his shirt to make a tourniquet for the bleeding arm. A New Hanover County 911 dispatcher said the first call about the alligator attack came in at 6:35 p.m.

“He was bit through the chest and stomach and his hand. I couldn’t believe that he was out there bobbing up and down in the water. After I got him out, he said he really didn’t care what was going on,” Mr. Core said.

From Mr. Core’s perspective, Mr. Masters is a very lucky man.

“That alligator got a hold of him and clamped onto his arm and drove him into the bushes. He could have pulled him right under the water,” he said.

After the ambulance left with Mr. Masters, a collection of police officers and firefighters collected on the deck jutting out into the placid lake. They were joined by two sizable alligators swimming nearby and oblivious to all the commotion.

State wildlife officials were summoned to determine if any violations were committed by Mr. Masters. Lt. Varrone said police also are investigating the incident.

“He supposedly was swimming in a restricted area,” he said. “We’re going to check the city code.”

Signs prohibiting swimming or disturbing the alligator population are posted around Greenfield Lake.

Onlookers at the scene said even if there were no alligators around, it’s hard to imagine why Mr. Masters would want to take a dip in the murky, algae-coated water.

“You don’t see that every day,” Mr. Core said. “It’s not the alligator’s fault.”

Mr. Masters was not available for comment. It was not known Sunday night if wildlife officials will attempt to capture the offending animal.

“Alligators are not our business unless we have to do something then and there,” Lt. Varrone said. “I think somebody was in its home.”

Last updated: July 05. 2005 11:42PM

Man charged, gator off hook in bite incident at lake

By Ken Little Staff Writer ken.little@starnewsonline.com

The Wilmington man injured by an alligator Sunday in Greenfield Lake is in exclusive company.

The only other alligator attack on a human is on record with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. And that person actually walked into the water to feed the animal before it struck, wildlife biologist Robert Norville said Tuesday.

“We have no record of unprovoked attacks,” Mr. Norville said. Police charged Floyd Eugene Masters with unlawful swimming, a city code violation. Mr. Masters, 39, suffered a bite wound on his right hand and a puncture wound to the left chest area after jumping into Greenfield Lake about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.

Witnesses said the 10-foot alligator reacted to the disturbance in the water by swimming directly toward Mr. Masters and clamping down hard on his arm.

Two men were able to pull Mr. Masters to safety. He was listed Tuesday in fair condition in New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Mr. Masters was not hunting the animal, so state officials won’t file additional charges, said Lt. Todd Radabaugh, of the enforcement division attached to the Wildlife Resources Commission.

The responsible reptile is also off the hook, Lt. Radabaugh said. “There will be no action taken. Nobody could identify the offending alligator,” he said.

Alligators won’t approach humans unless provoked, Mr. Norville said. About three years ago, several people trespassing on the grounds of the New River Air Station in Onslow County began feeding an alligator. One man in the group later entered the river and gave some food to the same animal.

Bad idea, Mr. Norville said. “The gentleman decided to go out in the water and feed the alligator. He was injured pretty badly on both of his arms,” Mr. Norville said.

At least two alligators were relocated from Greenfield Lake in the late 1990s. Authorities said at the time the animals lost their fear of people after being fed repeatedly and had become aggressive.

There are no reports of alligator-caused fatalities in North Carolina, Mr. Norville said. “Feeding definitely causes the problem, and they’re becoming habituated for all the wrong reasons. There’s no reason to feed an alligator. They’re not going hungry,” he said.

Signs prohibiting swimming and warning of an alligator presence are posted around Greenfield Lake. Unlawful swimming is a misdemeanor violation and could result in a $50 fine, Wilmington City Attorney Tom Pollard said.

Alligators wind up in the 130-acre lake by a variety of routes, including storm drains and tributaries, wildlife officials said. Others are raised as pets and are released into local lakes and ponds when they grow too big. Sightings in the coastal region aren’t unusual and people need to use common sense when an alligator is encountered, Lt. Radabaugh said.

“A lot of people think we have a lot more alligators in New Hanover County than we did. That’s probably not true,” he said. “They have fewer places to live, and there’s neighborhoods built on old swamps in certain parts of the county. They are plentiful, and people should not be surprised when they see one.”

Submitted on 08/04/2005

Submitted by: Andrew
Reference: Star News, 7/3/05 and 7/3/05

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