'His wife heard him screaming': Man, 85, attacked by alligator at retirement home
A massive three-metre alligator that attacked an elderly man at a retirement community still had his sneaker in its mouth when it was roped ashore.
A Facebook post warning other residents of the incident said the man had entered a “water/wooded area of the community that is commonly inhabited by gators in an effort to flush out birds nearby” on Monday.
Not long after, the gator latched onto his foot.
“His wife heard him screaming supposedly and I guess his neighbour came to his rescue,” local resident Jane Rickel told reporters.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Brian Bruchey says the alligator attacked the man’s foot near a lake in Lakeland, Florida, on Monday.
Mr Bruchey said the man was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure but was not seriously injured.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the alligator at the lake in a retirement community.
The man’s sneaker came out of the reptile’s mouth as it was removed from the lake.
State wildlife officials said the gator will likely be euthanised.
Ms Rickel said there isn’t a pond in the area that doesn’t have a few gators in it, but added she’s more worried about her dog’s safety than her own.
“He’s never on the leash because he’s so old and so well behaved. So I figure I’ll have to come to his rescue and kill the alligator,” she said.
