Wrestling match with 11-foot alligator leads to Louisiana man getting 80 stitches.

SULPHUR , La., June 23 (UPI) -- A Louisiana man may have learned his lesson after a wrestling match with an 11-foot alligator left him with a nasty gash on his hand that needed 80 stitches.

Glen Bonin and three friends encountered the large animal on a road in Sulphur after they had ingested a couple of alcoholic drinks and decided that they would move it.

"(We) took our shirts off, threw it on (the gator's) face, and we were going to come from behind it and jump on it ... In the process of doing that, it spun around and grabbed my hand seconds before we jumped on it," Bonin told KPLC. "It felt like someone was pulling my arm out. I thought I was about to lose something. It felt like it lasted forever."

The alligator did some major damage to Bonin's hand, but he's hopeful that therapy will eventually help him use his ring finger and pinkie normally.

Despite being a "guy who learns the hard way," the experience seems to have taught Bonin something.

"Call wildlife and fisheries, call the sheriff, call somebody, stay in your vehicles don't try to play with them or move them," he said. "Leave it to the professionals, that's what they say."