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Two Kalebs Bitten By Gators

July 11th, 2012 by flanews

In less than one week’s time two Florida teens found themselves in the jaws of two massive alligators. The attacks were four days and 300 hundred miles apart. As Whitney Ray tells us, it’s feeding time for gators in Florida; swimmers beware.

It was a typical summer’s day for 71 year old Billy Ezell and his 15 year old grandson Kaleb.

They loaded up the boat to go spear fishing and headed to a grassy island five miles off the coast of Keaton Beach. An hour later the day turned from typical to anything but.

“I didn’t ever expect to have any encounters with an alligator,” said Kaleb Towles.

Billy was in the boat; Kaleb was 30 feet away when all of a sudden…

“He came from my left side and bit me across my chest,” said Kaleb.

“I got the boat cranked and went and got the boat between Kaleb and the gator,” said Billy.

Kaleb swung his elbow and his spear gun. The alligator let go.

“Soon as I felt the pressure, I raised my elbow and he got off,” said Kaleb.

They killed the gator and counted their blessings.

Kaleb was fortunate to escape without losing life or limb. A few days after the attack, about three hundred miles south of here, another Florida teen was attacked. He wasn’t so luck.

His name is also Kaleb, but the 17 year old goes by Fred. The gator bit off part of his right arm before he was able to break free. Back in Taylor County, they couldn’t believe the news.

“It just made me think about how it could’ve been me as well, and how all these people need to think about what can happen around these gators,” said Kaleb.

“I wish that Kaleb had a speargun in his hand like my Kaleb did. It might’ve made a difference,” said Billy.

The bite marks on Kaleb’s chest and shoulder are already healing and he has a new nickname… ‘Gator Boy.’

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is warning swimmers. They say gator attacks are more common during the warm weather months because an alligator’s metabolism is boosted in the summer and, of course, this means they are eating a lot more than in the winter when the reptiles tend to be less active.

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