According to Florida state wildlife officials, an 85-year-old woman was mauled and killed by an alligator on February 20 in the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in St. Lucie County, Florida, as she was walking her dog too close to a pond behind the houses.
Residents called 911, prompting a response from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
According to WPTV, neighbors saw an alligator capture the woman’s dog as she was walking it.
The incident was caught on video and one can see the alligator sneakily slithering under the pond water toward the woman and her dog.
While trying to save her dog from the alligator, the woman was knocked over by the creature, which pulled her by the foot into the pond. The dog managed to escape the assault.
The dead woman was identified as Gloria Serge of Fort Pierce, according to the FWC. She had lived in the community for over 20 years and had many friends there.
The alligator was seized by a nuisance alligator trapper almost two hours after the initial 911 call.
According to alligator hunter Robert Lilly, capturing an alligator is no simple task. The lizard was submerged and wouldn’t come up for air. At 10 to 11 feet in length, the alligator was estimated to weigh between 600 and 700 pounds.
Another 88-year-old victim was a gardener in the Sun City Hilton Head suburb of South Carolina when she was attacked and killed by an alligator in August 2022 near a pond.
The authorities reported that another elderly woman in Florida died in July 2022 after being attacked by two alligators after slipping into a pond.
According to ABC News, an FWC representative said that reptiles are more active in the warmer months because their metabolism increases.