Police say a man died searching for Frisbees 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 flying discs in the water and "a gator was involved," the Largo Police Department said in an email Tuesday.
The man who died was 47 years old, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in an email. The commission said a contracted specialist was working to remove an alligator from the lake "and efforts will be made to determine if it was involved in this situation.”
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.
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Now, police are telling people to avoid the lake while the investigation continues.
The wildlife commission says there have been no fatal alligator attacks in Florida since 2019, although people and animals have been bitten from from time to time.
Wildlife officials stress that no one should approach a wild alligator or feed them, because the reptiles then associate people with food. This can be more problematic in populated areas such as apartment complexes where people walk dogs and have small children.
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