9-foot alligator lunges at and bites farm worker as he picks peppers in Palm City
PALM CITY — A farm worker picking peppers was injured Wednesday when he was bit by a 9-foot, 4-inch alligator, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident happened as “an agitated gator lurking in the field along 96th Street in Palm City lunged and grabbed hold of the man,” the Sheriff’s Office stated on social media.
The man, identified in a sheriff's report as Ender Esquivel, 24, of Pahokee, was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries, said Cory Pippin, Martin County Fire Rescue spokesperson.
“I never imagined that this could happen,” Esquivel said in Spanish during an interview Thursday.
Southwest 96th Street runs east and west from Southwest Citrus Boulevard to Southwest Kanner Highway where it becomes Pratt Whitney Road.
Sheriff’s officials just after 12 p.m. Wednesday went to an address in the area of the 3700 block of Southwest 96th Street, a report states.
A 49-year-old farm supervisor told sheriff’s officials that Esquivel works for him on the farm.
Esquivel reportedly told investigators while at Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital that he got to work about 7 a.m. and started picking peppers, a sheriff's report states.
“Ender stated everything was going well,” a report states. “He then went to lunch and when he came back, he noticed the gator in the distance.”
About 20 minutes before the bite, Esquivel said he saw the alligator moved a bit closer.
“Ender continued to pick peppers and then felt the gator bite his left thigh,” the report states. “Ender put his hand over the gator’s nose, and it let go.”
Esquivel said they pick mini bell peppers. He's worked three, eight-month seasons at the farm, and originally is from Guatemala.
“It was like my instinct and adrenaline in that moment because all I felt was that it bit me and shook its snout to destabilize and throw me,” Esquivel said. “What I did was put my hand on top of it to detach myself. In that moment, it let me go and it wanted to bite me again, but in that moment I jumped and distanced myself from where it was.”
Esquivel’s co-workers pulled him from the area and called the supervisor.
The incident happened by a canal in the pepper fields. Esquivel was bitten out of the water near thick brush along the canal.
Esquivel said it was his first time being bit by an alligator, but it's common to see alligators there.
Deputies reported the investigation was being turned over to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the alligator was removed from the area.
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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Farm worker bitten by alligator in Palm City
