ROUGH WATERS

Florida Men Cling to Tree for Their Lives in Alligator Habitat

Their boat capsized and floated away, leaving them stranded.

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Two men were forced to cling to a tree above a Florida river after their boat capsized and floated away. The men were stranded in the Hillsborough River northeast of Tampa on Tuesday, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. The area is home to alligators, turtles, water snakes, frogs, and wading birds. Footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the two men on a tree limb that extended over the river waiting to be rescued. The sheriff’s office did not say whether or not the stranded pair came into contact with any alligators or other water-dwelling species during their ordeal. It is unknown what caused their boat to capsize or how long the men spent stranded. Authorities were called to the river at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday and it took them some time to locate the men, who were roughly 3,000 feet downstream of the boat ramp. Sheriff’s deputies and an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission worked together to rescue the pair. Neither man was injured, but their boat wasn’t so lucky. “The capsized boat was not located,” the sheriff’s office said.