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(PHOTOS) 85-year-old Florida Woman Killed By 10-Foot-Long Alligator While Attempting To Save Her Dog

<p>An elderly <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;&quest;s&equals;florida&amp&semi;post&lowbar;type&equals;post" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Florida<&sol;strong><&sol;a> woman was killed by a 10-foot-long alligator as she attempted save her dog while taking a walk around her retirement community&comma;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The 85-year-old&comma; who has not yet been publicly named&comma; was reportedly attacked outside of Spanish Lakes Fairways&comma; a retirement community in Fort Pierce&comma; according to <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wptv&period;com&sol;news&sol;treasure-coast&sol;region-st-lucie-county&sol;deadly-incident-involving-alligator-investigated-in-st-lucie-county-fwc-says" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>WPTV<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Elderly Woman Was Walking Dog When Alligator Suddenly Lunged Out And Grabbed The Pet<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Residents told the outlet that the victim was walking her dog when the reptile suddenly lunged out of the water and grabbed the pooch&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She tried to save the dog&comma; but the pet was quickly dragged underwater&comma; <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cbsnews&period;com&sol;news&sol;alligator-kills-85-year-old-woman-florida&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>CBS News<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;em> reports&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The dog somehow managed to survive the attack&comma; however it&&num;8217&semi;s owner was ultimately killed by the alligator&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Authorities only &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;recovered” the body after Robert Lilly&comma; an alligator wrangler&comma; was called in to trap the massive reptile&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-twitter data-tweetid&equals;"1628046635690254337" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"480"><&sol;amp-twitter><&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It was definitely a fight&comma;” the alligator trapper said&comma; recalling the alligator&&num;8217&semi;s capture&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;&lbrack;We&rsqb; snagged him on the bottom&period; He never surfaced&period; He stayed down the whole time&period;”<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Alligator Subdued By Animal Wrangler&comma; Required Six Officers To Carry It Into Back Of Pickup Truck<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Photos show Lilley somehow subdued the gator as well as other shots of officers assisting in carrying the reptile&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We were able to get a second hook in him and a hard line in him so we could get him up&comma;” Lilley explained&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>It ultimately took six people to load the alligator into the back of a pickup truck&comma; with experts estimating that the predator to be at least 10 to 11-feet long and weighing between 600 and 700 pounds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; the St&period; Lucie County Sheriff’s Office had to reportedly close several roads in the area as they launched an investigation into the woman’s death&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;112750" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-112750" style&equals;"width&colon; 1140px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-112750" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;02&sol;GettyImages-1465419237-scaled&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1140" height&equals;"837" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-112750" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">An alligator swims through the Wakodahatchee Wetlands on January 31&comma; 2023 in Delray Beach&comma; Florida&period; Photo by Bruce Bennett&sol;Getty Images&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Gator Attacks&colon; How Prevalent Are They&quest; And How Many People Are Really Killed By Gators Each Year&quest;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>While gators are reportedly not an uncommon sight in the area&comma; neighbors say they had never witnessed an attack like that before&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; it was not the only gator-incident reported this week&period; On Sunday&comma; a 4-foot-long alligator was removed from Brooklyn&&num;8217&semi;s Prospect Park Lake&comma; in an area known for small children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In explaining why an alligator ended up in New York City&comma; Meghan Lalor&comma; a representative for the Parks Department&comma; said the gator was likely an unwanted pet whose owner decided to release it in public waters&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Gator attacks are uncommon&comma; but not completely unheard of&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;112754" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-112754" style&equals;"width&colon; 1140px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-full wp-image-112754" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;02&sol;GettyImages-1451506122-scaled&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1140" height&equals;"760" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-112754" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Alligators flourish in the swamplands of the preserved land of Fakahatchee State Park&comma; December 19&comma; 2022&comma; outside of Copeland&comma; Florida&period; &lpar;Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein&sol;Corbis via Getty Images&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>There were more than two dozen deaths and 376 injuries out of 442 unprovoked attacks between 1948 and 2021&comma; according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"page" title&equals;"Page 1">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"layoutArea">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"column">&NewLine;<p>Globally&comma; alligators account for less than 6 percent of crocodilian attacks that resulted in fatality &lpar;IUCN&rpar;&comma; according to University of Florida <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;crocdoc&period;ifas&period;ufl&period;edu&sol;publications&sol;factsheets&sol;Alligator&percnt;20Attack&percnt;20Risk&percnt;20Comparison&percnt;202019&period;pdf" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>CrocDocs<&sol;strong><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A majority of these attacks occurred while the person was swimming&comma; wading&comma; or at the water’s edge &lpar;CrocBITE database&rpar;&period; With the majority of Florida’s population living in close proximity to freshwater and coastal areas&comma; there is increased potential for conflict&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Nile crocodile is responsible for more attacks on humans than any other crocodilian species&comma; giving the misconception that the American crocodile&comma; a federally threatened species in Florida&comma; will behave similarly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style&equals;"justify-content&colon; center&semi;&semi;"> <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-container" data-ver&equals;"1&period;3&period;10" data-post&lowbar;id&equals;"112711" data-show&lowbar;count&equals;"true" data-enable&lowbar;share&equals;"onclick" data-behavior&equals;"regular" data-animation&equals;"true" data-share&lowbar;url&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;85-year-old-florida-woman-by-10-foot-long-alligator&sol;" data-secure&equals;"6042cd2d6f"> <div class&equals;"wpra-call-to-action" style&equals;"color&colon; 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Matthew McNulty

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