A Florida man had to have his right arm amputated after being bitten in an alligator attack near the Banditos bar in Port Charlotte Sunday.

At around 1:40 a.m., the 23-year-old victim, unnamed by authorities, jumped into a pond next to the bar containing the gators. A witness claimed the man angered the reptiles, who were on edge because of mating season.

The victim “jumped in the water trying to swim around, antagonizing the alligators, and he got his arm bit off. A group of people came running up with a panicked look on their face. … It was pretty ignorant to be out on the water knowing it’s mating season; they’ll get territorial when there’s another female around,” Ron Williams, who was also at Banditos, told WFTX-TV, a Cape Coral Fox affiliate.

Another bystander, Manny Hidalgo, helped the man out of the water.

“He was yelling and swimming toward the shoreline. I ran and dragged him up onto the sand. I was scared to get close to the water because it was dark out. I was scared for sure. He was a pretty big guy. I’m not sure how I did it. I guess my adrenaline kicked in,” Mr. Hidalgo told Port Charlotte’s Daily Sun.

Bystanders applied a tourniquet before emergency services arrived. The man was then airlifted 28 miles south to Fort Myers, where his arm was amputated at the city’s Gulf Coast Medical Center.

Later on Sunday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fished out the rowdy reptile. The gator was over 10 feet long.

A video of the capture was posted to Twitter by WINK-TV reporter Amy Galo.

Afterward, wildlife officials terminated the gator in a humane fashion.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.