Police say alligator 'was involved' in man's death at Largo disc golf course
LARGO — Police in Florida say a man died searching for lost discs in a lake at a disc golf course where people are warned by signs to beware of alligators.
The unidentified man was looking for Frisbees and other discs in the water and "a gator was involved," the Largo Police Department said in an email Tuesday. No other details were immediately released.
Police said gator trappers are responding to Taylor Lake, a part of the 153-acre (62-hectare) John S. Taylor Park in Largo, a suburb of St. Petersburg.
Alligators in Florida: It's alligator mating season in Florida, so expect more neighborhood gator sightings
See you later: Palm Coast gator gets new home after showing up at apartment door
Alligator takes ball: Alligator snatches golf ball at Ormond Beach's Plantation Bay Golf Club
The park's website notes that patrons can “discover the sport of disc golf on a course set in the natural beauty of this park.” The course is set along the lake, which has no-swimming signs posted along it.
Now, police are telling people to avoid the lake while the investigation continues.
What is disc golf?
Disc golf is played similarly to golf but instead of using a ball and swinging clubs, players throw flying discs.
According to the Professional Disc Golf Association website, the sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with golf the object of completing each hole in the fewest shots.
A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target, usually an elevated metal basket with hanging chains. The hole is completed when the disc lands in a basket.
Where is Largo, Florida?
Largo, Florida is about 45 minutes east of Tampa and a little more than a half-hour north of St. Petersburgh, south of Clearwater. According to its city website the population is 83,000 and Largo is the fourth largest city in the Tampa Bay area.
How often to alligators kill people?
Alligator attacks and bites in Florida, which keeps growing in population are quite rare. Over the last 10 years, Florida has averaged 8 unprovoked bites per year that are serious enough to require medical treatment.
The likelihood of a Florida resident being seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is roughly only one in 3.1 million, according to the Human-Alligator Incidents Fact Sheet submitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in November. There is an estimated 1.3 million alligators in Florida.
From 1948 to 2021, 442 unprovoked bite incidents have occurred in Florida with 26 resulting in human fatalities, according to the report.
USA TODAY Network-Florida contributed to this Associated Press report.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Man dies at Florida's Taylor Park disc golf course; alligator involved
