A group of tubers got the scare of their life at the Mooi River near Muden. One of them had just gone over a small fall when a Crocodile lunged at him, grazed him as it grabbed his tube and took off with it. Recounting the incident he said he dose not know what happened next because they all “hightailed it out of the water” When asked if he would return for more tubing he said it was unlikely.
Category Archives: Herp Attacks
Copperhead kills man
Police and state wildlife officials are investigating the death of a 26 year old man from Tennessee after he was bitten by a Copperhead. He apparently as trying to sex the snake which a friend brought over and was bitten just above the right elbow. EMS staff preformed CPR when they arrived but he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
“UPDATE”
Apparently police have question and are still investigating the circumstances including the length of time it took the friend to call for help. Wildlife officials also stated that copperheads are not legal to keep in Tennessee and charges may be filed.
A herpetologist also noted that Copperhead bites rarely kill people and are actually considered mild mites.
DRN spoke to a friend of the family who stated that he did not keep venomous snakes and was not trained in the proper handling procedures for them.
Reptile News: Snake rescue chicks rock!
Mother saves her sons life
A 4 year old boy inadvertently stepped on a Brown Snake and was promptly bitten on both feet. His mother quickly applied a tourniquet on both legs and kept the boy calm until he was transported to the hospital where he was placed on a 24 hour observation in the ICU. When the day was done no antivenin had to be given to the boy. More people who live in areas where snakes are in abundance or even people who visit these areas should be educated in the proper way to handle snake bites.
Reptile News: PETA is a domestic terror organization
Brown snake nearly kills man
Ten-Foot Alligator Eats Golfer’s Arm
A golfer whose right arm was ripped off and eaten by a 10-foot alligator says he never would have tried to play a shot near the water hazard if the course had warned him there were alligators about. The alligator pulled him into and under the water, and as his son and other golfers helped him stagger back to land, James Wiencek says, “the alligator swam away, having eaten plaintiff’s arm.”
Wiencek sued the Fripp Island Resort and affiliates in Federal Court.
Wiencek and his son went to the Ocean Creek Golf Club at the Fripp Island Resort near Beaufort on Oct. 8, 2009, for an afternoon round of golf.
On the 11th hole, Wiencek hit his ball near, but not into, a big deep pond, surrounded by a steep bank covered by long grass. The pond itself was dark and brackish, at no time allowing a hint of what lay beneath the surface.
“When the plaintiff reached his right arm towards the ball, without warning, a large, 10-foot long alligator spring from the brackish and dark water and attacked the plaintiff, biting and holding plaintiff’s right arm,” the complaint states.
“The alligator then pulled Plaintiff into the water and attempted to initiate a roll, pulling plaintiff underwater. Plaintiff struggled with the alligator, and the alligator tore plaintiff’s right arm off in a violent and vicious manner above the elbow.
“Plaintiff was helped to the shore by his son and attended to by other patrons of the course.
“The alligator swam away, having eaten plaintiff’s arm.”
Wiencek says that before the attack, “residents of nearby homes had noticed the alligator’s large size and aggressive behavior and had alerted the defendants to its presence and behavior.”
Despite having “actual and constructive knowledge of the ongoing presence and aggressive behavior of the large alligator,” the defendants “failed to take reasonable action to secure the premises of the golf course and to warn its business invitees, including the plaintiff, of the alligator’s aggressive presence, size, or aggressive behavior,” according to the complaint.
Wiencek seeks actual and punitive damages for negligence, pain and suffering, mental anguish, discomfort and disability.
He is represented by Mark Chappell and William McAngus Jr., with Chappell, Smith & Arden of Columbia, S.C.
The defendants are the Fripp Island Resort, The Ocean Courses of Fripp, Fripp Island Co. and The Marina Village of Fripp
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/01/20/33461.htm