Did you know that Florida’s first recorded fatal black bear attack happened right here in Collier County this year; making history. A fish falling from the sky ruined one Naples teacher’s lunch break in 2012; shark and alligator attacks (no surprise) and two tiger incidents (ok, a bit surprised when the news broke).
Here’s a few of the recorded incidents of when animals attack.
August 2025
A fisherman was bitten on the leg by a lemon shark while posing for a photo after catching it near Cayo Costa. The man, Shawn Meuse, was airlifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center for treatment.
A 62-year-old woman was hospitalized after a 7-foot alligator attacked her on the Bird Rookery Swamp Trail in Collier County. The incident occurred when the woman unintentionally made contact with the alligator while hiking a watery part of the trail, and the animal bit her arm and leg, dragging her into the woods before her friends intervened.
June 2025
A 9-year-old girl named Leah suffered a severe hand injury while snorkeling off Boca Grande. She was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital and underwent extensive surgery, though surgeons were able to put her hand back together.
May 2025
Robert Markel and his dog were killed in the small community of Jerome, 30 miles east of Naples.
On May 5, Sue Story found her grandfather’s dog being mauled in her front yard. According to an incident report from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Story, 65, told authorities she could not find Markel, 89.
Story told authorities that when she went to check Markel’s camper, he was not there and it was “in disarray.”
Approximately 20 yards from the trailer, in nearby woods, authorities found a wallet, pants and a T-shirt that “appeared to be saturated in blood.”
When officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived, they found Markel’s body approximately 100 yards from the trailer.
September 2024
A North Fort Myers woman was also attacked by an alligator. The attack occurred while she was walking her dog. The 84-year-old woman was able to fight off the alligator by hitting it in the face. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.
March 2022
FWC revealed two tigers bit a worker after a report was released clearing a Collier County airboat company of wrongdoing in the attack.
The maintenance worker who was bitten “ignored a caretaker’s instructions” to stay away from the enclosure, the report found.
Ignacio Meabe Martinez, 48, of Lehigh Acres suffered severe injuries to both arms when he was bitten by two tigers at Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours in Ochopee on March 22.
December 2021
A contract worker at the Naples Zoo was mauled by an 8-year-old Malayan tiger named Eko after the worker allegedly entered an unauthorized area and put his arm into the enclosure.
A Collier County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the tiger to free the worker’s arm.
September 2012
A bizarre incident made national headlines. HuffPost reported on a Naples High School teacher who was “supervising the lunch hour when a fish — yes, a fish — fell from the sky” and hit him on the head.
Known in some parts as the “flying mackerel incident,” the victim survived the incident and “school resource officer Cpl. Jim Brown deduced that a bird must have dropped its lunch when the assailant got wriggly.”
May 2007
Hans Pruss was swimming about 100 yards offshore from the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples when he felt something bump him on the left leg.
He swam to shore and saw a circular bite beginning just above the left knee and extending to mid-thigh.
“He was not in critical condition,” hotel spokeswoman Courtney Giammaria said. “After the incident, he swam to shore, and we made a call to emergency services.”
Two recent incidents, too close for comfort
On Sept. 8 of this year, a wild boar “burst through the sliding glass back door and was seen standing in the living room” in a Lehigh Acres home.
Attempts to wrangle the aggressive animal using rope also failed, but in the end, the deputies came out on top and chased the hog into the woods, with all involved apparently uninjured.
Also in May of this year, Naples Police found a black bear taking a nap at a construction site, posting this:
Unusual sight in the City of Naples today! Naples Police responded to 3115 Gulf Shore Blvd. N. reference to a black bear that was taking a nap in a condominium lobby that was under construction.
He took a swim in the Gulf earlier and obviously tired himself out!
