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Alligator Rips Off 84-Year-Old Widow’s Arm in Florida Canal

Sep. 26, 2012 10:46pm
Alligator Rips Off 84 Year Old Widow Carol Houghs Arm in Florida Canal

In this image made from video, an 11-foot alligator that attacked a swimmer is pulled from the water after it was killed Monday evening, July 9, 2012 in the Caloosahatchee River near Moore Haven, Fla. Fish and wildlife Commission (FWC) workers, Glades County Sheriff's deputies and trappers found and killed the gator, which had attacked 17-year old Kaleb Langdale, taking his right arm. FWC, the Glades County Sheriff's Office and trappers found the gator and retrieved Langdale's arm from inside, but doctors were not able to reattach it. (Credit: AP)

LEESBURG, Fla. (TheBlaze/AP) — Authorities say an alligator ripped off an elderly woman’s arm in a Florida canal.

Joy Hill, a spokeswoman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, says the woman was in critical condition.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 84-year-old Carol Hough of Leesburg.

Hough’s neighbor, Delmas Zickefoose, told the Orlando Sentinel that he saw Hough flailing in the 4-foot-deep canal that runs behind their mobile homes.

More from the Orlando Sentinel:

No one knows why Hough was in the water or how long she had been in there before Zickefoose saw her. But several large gators regularly swim near their homes at Cypress Creek Mobile Home Park, which sits between lakes Harris and Denham off U.S. Highway 27.

Other neighbors said Hough had a history of being disoriented and might suffer from dementia. She had moved to Florida from Maine after her husband died. She asked for her late husband, Bob, after Zickefoose found her in the water at daybreak, around 7 a.m.

After rescuing her, he brought her to a sandy shoreline near his house, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame. Hough was calm and alert, despite the loss of her arm, and only her single utterance, “gator,” offered any clue as to what had happened.

“She was not upset, not screaming, as I held her,” he said. She said little, other than asking for her late husband.

Alligator Rips Off 84 Year Old Widow Carol Houghs Arm in Florida Canal

Carol Hough, 84, was attacked by an alligator in the Helena Run canal that runs behind her mobile home in Lake County on Wednesday. (Ludmilla Lelis/Orlando Sentinel, Ludmilla Lelis/Orlando Sentinel)

Alligator Rips Off 84 Year Old Widow Carol Houghs Arm in Florida Canal

A canal where an alligator attacked an elderly woman in a canal in a Leesburg-area mobile home park , is shown here on Wednesday, September 26, 2012. Carol Hough, 84, was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. (Tom Benitez/Orlando Sentinel)

The alligator will be killed so authorities can perform a necropsy, which is common procedure to make sure the animal won’t attack again.

And the attacks aren’t uncommon: a teenager lost part of his arm to a gator in July, and an airboat captain lost a hand while feeding one in June.

“It’s against the law, and it’s a very bad idea to feed a gator,” said Lt. Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “If an alligator gets used to being fed, they become less afraid of humans.”

To listen to the 911 call, click here.

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Comments (37)

  • Grand design
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 10:52pm

    It is a reasonable idea if they are close to you and dangerous, all of them are, feed them two 30-06 rounds and start the BBQ!

    Report this comment

    Grand design  
  • Marsh626
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 5:16pm

    All dangerous predators should be removed from the areas that people like to enjoy the outdoors. That so many people are perfectly fine with man eating dinosaurs slithering around their lakes and streams blows my mind. Everyone has been brainwashed by environmentalism it seems.

    Report this comment

    Marsh626  
  • SanMoo
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:53pm

    Why do they make an 84 year old woman asking for her husband….alive or dead…..out to be a sick old lady? Dimentia….my fanny….she is alone and missing him everyday. (I would think her husband took good care of her in their marriage and now he is gone–he was probably a strong Maine guy.) …..She had enough sense to stay alive until someone got to her and she knew a Gator got her. I would also think she had lost a lot of blood. For heaven’s sake, immediately assign Dimentia to her and put her in a Nursing Home! Oh Brother…..:(

    Report this comment

    SanMoo  
  • Inlandmar2
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:22am

    A gator is going to do what a gator is going to do! Don’t blame the alligator. Alligators were here long before we we were. And…Yes, Florida has a lot of alligators and a lot lot people. Florida has well over a million alligators and a population of more than 19 million people. There is a very low incidence of people being “attacked” by alligators. In fact, here in Florida, more people are bitten by sharks each year than are bitten by alligators. I am a Nuisance Alligator Trapper for the State of Florida. As such, I have seen the many “STUPID” things people do with and to alligators. Maybe some day I will write a book. People need to be alert and alligators need to be respected, but they are not the “blood thirsty” monsters Hollywood and the media would have you believe. If you see an alligator leave it alone and give it space. What ever you do…Don’t feed it ( dead fish, food scraps, garbage or body parts)

    Report this comment

    Inlandmar2  
    • Yeah_Buddy
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:12pm

      People killers like sharks and gators should be shot on sight if near where people congregate.

      I love this quote: ‘The alligator will be killed so authorities can perform a necropsy, which is common procedure to make sure the animal won’t attack again.’

      Ummm…I think if you kill it, it won’t attack again.

      Report this comment

      Yeah_Buddy  
  • PlanetReality
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 5:42am

    Live in fla u dont go in FRESHWATER CANALS OR LAKES this is where ALLIGATORS LIVE!!! it amazes me how many clueless human there and then the alligator gets killed for surviving , Now poor grandma might have the dimentia but still how many more cluelss are left in fla!! Guess we will see in nov!!!!!

    Report this comment

    PlanetReality  
    • Zoe
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 8:06am

      Tell that to The “professionals” who ski in Fla….. Usually it’s not them who get attacked & they’re in the water almost every day…….

      Common sense isn’t a secret…….

      Report this comment

      Zoe  
    • TDrury
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:20pm

      It always amazes me that when someone is killed or injured in a freak accident that some people start chalking it up to a lack of common sense. I don’t suppose if one of you family members died of an illness related to cigarette smoking that you would want people posting on the internet that your deceased family member died because they were clueless. The fact is that we all do stupid things sometimes. Most of us get away with them, but sometimes people are killed or injured. Maybe you are the only one who never does things that make you seem “clueless.”

      I am outside in Florida all the time in my kayak. I frequently see gators and have never had a problem, but that doesn’t mean that I will never be attacked. They are wild animals and are sometimes unpredictable, especially if someone has been feeding them. It is worth noting that you are statistically at a much higher risk of dying when you are driving your car than when you are swimming in gator-infested waters, but I don’t guess you’ll stop driving because it is “clueless.”

      Report this comment

      TDrury  
  • Riccy102
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:47am

    Florida may have lots of alligators but it has no shortage of good people like the man who called 911 and stayed with this lady, either. Long live the good people!

    Report this comment

    Riccy102  
  • blackyb
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:39am

    That alligator was a dammmmm demoncrat.

    Report this comment

    blackyb  
  • blackyb
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:36am

    I am sorry that old lady got hurt, and I would be hunting gators to kill from then on if it was my grandmother, still I am going to have to say:

    Well, I guess that song Polk Salad Annie–a gator’s got yore granny comes to mind.

    Report this comment

    blackyb  
  • spudwhite
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:20am

    So sad, the poor woman, 84, with dementia, a widow from Maine — and can’t even enjoy what little life she has left without a prehistoric monster attacking her in her own back yard. Heartbreaking that she called for her late husband but was otherwise stoic.

    Report this comment

    spudwhite  
    • stumpy68
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 9:38am

      She most likely thought she had died and was looking to reunite with him.

      Report this comment

      stumpy68  
  • KidCharlemagne
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 1:12am

    It’s almost hard to believe that 30 years or so ago, alligators in Florida were an endangered species…

    Since then though, gators in Florida have proliferated like bunny rabbits.

    Report this comment

    KidCharlemagne  
  • banjarmon
    Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:52am

    Where is BHO or MO when you need gator bait???

    Report this comment

    banjarmon  
  • chips1
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:51pm

    Alligators, Pythons, Muslims!! We’re surrounded!!!!!

    Report this comment

    chips1  
  • jsweetman
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:49pm

    ouch

    Report this comment

    jsweetman  
  • ButResistWeMuch
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:45pm

    So sad… But who would live on the edge of a canal which has known gators in it?! At anytime you or your pet could be gator food. The canal attached to our backyard in Florida doesn’t have any known Gators or I’d be outta here!! LOL

    Report this comment

    ButResistWeMuch  
    • GodHatesFigs
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:00am

      Yes it does.

      Report this comment

      GodHatesFigs  
    • Riccy102
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 2:43am

      I was gonna say the same thing.

      Report this comment

      Riccy102  
    • TDrury
      Posted on September 28, 2012 at 10:01am

      If you live near water in Florida, you are near gators. It seems you may need to move since you just insinuated that people who live on canals with gators are stupid.

      Report this comment

      TDrury  
  • clamdown
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:15pm

    “The alligator will be killed so authorities can perform a necropsy, which is common procedure to make sure the animal won’t attack again.”
    WELL… after he is killed…i am fairly certain he will not attack again.. i am not positive..i am not a professional but death usually puts a stop to things..

    Report this comment

    clamdown  
  • 13th Imam
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:08pm

    It’s against the law to feed”your arm” to gators. Or “your leg” to Tigers.
    But Obama’s DEATH Panels will be perfectly fine, along with murdered abortion babies.

    Report this comment

    13th Imam  
  • dickdastardly
    Posted on September 26, 2012 at 10:51pm

    “Polk Salad Annie…Gator got yer Grannie…chomp…chomp!”

    Ouch!

    Report this comment

    dickdastardly  
    • Teufel Hunden
      Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:06pm

      You’re a sick bastard!

      Report this comment

      Teufel Hunden  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:09pm

      Have you ever seen gator boys on animal planet? I have seen the star of that show dive into waters where the gators are to retrieve one..It freaked me out the first time I ever saw it..I think it was a croc that got a litte girl a couple of years ago..or maybe last summer..it was here on the Blaze..Seems like she and her dad were fishing..I don’t know if it’s a gator..a croc.. or both that will leap out of the water to take you under..I don’t want to be anywhere near where there are gators or crocs…I understand that Florida has about 200 saltwater crocs..

      Report this comment

      ashestoashes  
    • TheValley
      Posted on September 26, 2012 at 11:50pm

      C’mon man, if your gonna sing it, sing it right…That’s Poke Sallet Annie.

      Report this comment

      TheValley  
    • dickdastardly
      Posted on September 27, 2012 at 12:42pm

      No…I have a sense of humour…

      Report this comment

      dickdastardly  

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