Florida Man Attacked by Gator During Performance

It was just another day at work for Will Nace -- until a 900 pound alligator tried to eat him alive.

An employee at Florida Gator Park, Nace was performing what he and his coworkers call the "lunge alligator" demonstration on Saturday when the alligator he was using for it attacked, WPLG-TV reports.

Approximately 20 people watched as the man was pulled under the water in the jaws of the 13-foot animal after he went in to tap its nose.

"I've never seen anything like it in my life," spectator Serge Achille said. "When I walked by all I could see was Will being dragged under the water screaming at the top of his lungs until you couldn't see him anymore."

Luckily, another animal handler was on hand and able to jump in and save Nace who was promptly taken to a local hospital where he is in stable condition.

About the attack, Nace told KCTV-5 that the animal started with clamping down on his hand.

"He actually ended up lunging for me before I got to his nose," Nace said. "So my hand happened to be right in front of his face [when it] lunged up, basically grabbed my hand, bent it backwards and bit down."

Florida residents are no strangers to alligator attack stories: this May resident Bryan Zuniga had just escaped from police when the 20-year-old was attacked by a gator, landing him the hospital with wounds on his arms and face. Meanwhile, a woman visiting the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was uninjured but thoroughly shaken up when her inflatable boat was attacked by a gator earlier this month.

According to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, alligators are naturally timid animals that won't pursue a running person, though it warns that running zigzag -- an oft repeated method of defense -- will only slow down the person trying to escape.

Like squirrels or deer, however, it's possible for alligators to overcome this natural shyness over an extended period of exposure to people.

"An important part of learning to live with alligators is recognizing that over time, these timid reptiles can become a serious threat to public safety with the wrong kind of encouragement," state park officials explained in release on alligator safety. "Unfortunately, close encounters with humans have a cumulative effect on an alligator's behavior that is usually subtle and always very dangerous."

To stay safe, the park officials warn never to get closer than 15 feet to an alligator and to back away if it hisses or opens its mouth in defense.