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An 85-year-old woman was mauled to death by a 10-foot alligator while trying to rescue her dog from the reptile near a pond in Florida.
The retiree, who has not yet been named, was walking her dog by the pond in the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in Fort Pierce Monday when the 700-pound alligator dove out of the water and grabbed the canine.
The woman had tried to pull the dog away from the alligator’s jaws when the reptile attacked her and dragged her into the pond, a witness said. CBS News.
The victim’s body was later recovered by officials while her dog is being treated for injuries.
The woman is the third victim to be killed by an alligator in Florida since last July.
Wildlife experts found the alligator at the bottom of the pond and dragged it out of the water, and an officer was seen sitting on top of the reptile.
An 85-year-old woman was mauled to death by a 10-foot alligator while trying to rescue her dog from the reptile’s clutches near a pond in Florida. Officials later managed to drag the alligator (pictured), with its muzzle closed by a rope, through the grass and put it in a truck.
Wildlife experts found the alligator at the bottom of the pond and dragged it out of the water, with an official seen sitting on top of the reptile.
The victim’s body was later recovered by officials while her dog is being treated for injuries. Pictured: Wildlife officials remove the alligator from the pond
They later managed to drag the alligator, its muzzle closed with a rope, through the grass and put it in a truck.
‘I catch it [the alligator] In the background. She never surfaced. She stayed down the whole time. I have a second hook on it and then a hard line on it so we can pull it up,’ said Robert Lilly, an alligator hunter who works for FWC. WPBF.
Lilly said it was “definitely a fight” as the alligator weighed around 700 pounds.
The retiree is the third person killed by an alligator in Florida since last July.
Another old woman was killed by two alligators after falling into a pond near his home at Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood in July 2022.
The woman, whose identity is unknown, she was struggling to stay afloat when two alligators were seen swimming towards her. They then grabbed her before she could get away from her and killed her.
In May 2022, the body of 47-year-old Sean Thomas McGuinness was found missing three limbs in the lake at John S Taylor Park in Largo, Florida.
Officials later managed to drag the alligator, with its muzzle closed by a rope, through the grass and put it in a truck.
In May 2022, the body of 47-year-old Sean Thomas McGuinness (pictured) was found missing three limbs in the lake at John S Taylor Park in Largo, Florida.
Investigators now believe it had entered the 53-acre freshwater lake looking for UFOs when it was attacked. The park is home to an 18-hole disc golf course, with five holes adjacent to the lake, according to the Miami Herald.
Authorities noted that park management had reported that ‘McGuinness was known to frequent the park and enter the lake without regard for “No Swimming” signs.
“A witness also informed detectives that McGuinness was known to sell records to people within the park, and McGuinness was found within a few feet of a record in the water.”
Florida has a population of 1.3 million alligators in its 67 counties, and they can be found in virtually all freshwater bodies and occasionally saltwater.
But the number of cases of people being attacked by alligators in the state is small.
From 1948 through 2021, 442 unprovoked bite incidents occurred in Florida, 26 of which resulted in human deaths.
Over the past ten years, Florida has averaged eight unprovoked bites per year that are severe enough to require professional medical treatment, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says on its website.
“The chance that a Floridian will be seriously injured during an unprovoked alligator incident in Florida is only about one in 3.1 million,” he said.
Following yesterday’s attack, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said, “Serious injuries from alligators are rare in Florida.”
‘The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a State Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) to address complaints about specific alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.
“People concerned about an alligator should call the FWC’s toll-free nuisance alligator hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).
“When someone concerned about an alligator calls the nuisance alligator hotline, we will send one of our contracted nuisance alligator hunters to resolve the situation.”