A 47-year-old man was killed by an alligator as he attempted to retrieve his frisbee at a local park, police believe.
Largo Police Department (LPD) officers think the man likely entered the lake at John S. Taylor Park in Largo in search of a frisbee disc, before being bitten by the reptile and later dying.
John S. Taylor Park has an 18-hole disc golf course with various holes running adjacent to the lake, which is known for its alligators. The waterside is peppered with signs warning people of the predator and instructing them not to swim.
A local disc golf player, Ken Hostnick, told the Tampa Bay Times that while he didn't know the man who died, he is aware of people who enter the lake to retrieve discs despite the risks.
”These are people that are down on their luck,” he said. “Sometimes they dive in the lakes, they’ll pull out 40 discs.
"You may sell them for five bucks a piece, and you may sell them for 10 bucks a piece, depending on the quality.”
In 2020, a man suffered an alligator bite to the face when retrieving frisbee discs at the park.
Despite alligators roaming across large swathes of the state, as of last November, no confirmed fatal alligator attacks had been recorded in Florida since 2019, according to the Conservation Commission.
Both of the recent incidents at Taylor Park occurred during alligator mating season, which is at its height in May and June. Male alligators can be especially aggressive over this period.
