Man bitten in leg by 7-foot alligator at North Port motel garden
NORTH PORT, Fla. - While a man was walking around a North Port motel during the middle of the night, deputies said he was bitten by an alligator.
According to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, around 12:45 a.m., the 49-year-old was walking in the front garden Warm Mineral Springs Motel, located on Tamiami Trail. Deputies said he is a resident at the motel.
As he was walking, deputies said he noticed a dark silhouette in the bushes off the pathway and thought it was a dog, "which is why he wasn't hesitant to move out of the way."
That's when the gator bit him in the leg, deputies said. A Sarasota County deputy was nearby on an unrelated call and heard the man screaming.
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The man, who was not identified by deputies, was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been released.
An alligator trapper responded and captured the gator.