LAKELAND, FL (WFTS/WFTV/CNN) – An 85-year-old man has been hospitalized after being bitten by an alligator at a retirement community in Florida.
Florida Fish and Wildlife officials said the gator is 9 feet 9 inches long.
Trappers pulled it out of a pond at the Cypress Lakes retirement community on Monday afternoon, not long after it bit the man.
"There isn't a pond in here that doesn't have alligators in it," resident Jane Rickel said.
The man was taken to a hospital and residents said they’ve heard he’s OK.
There’s no official word on his injuries yet. He was reportedly bitten in the foot.
Rickel said trappers found the man’s white sneaker in the gator’s mouth, confirming they got the right one.
"His wife heard him screaming, supposedly. And I guess his neighbor came to his rescue," Rickel said.
According to a post on the community’s Facebook page, the victim went into a marshy, wooded area to flush out birds – that’s where the attack happened.
Rickel said she doesn’t worry about getting hurt by a gator, but she’s keeping an eye on her dog Buster.
"He's never on the leash because he's so old and so well-behaved. So I figured, well, I'd have to come to his rescue, you know, and kill the alligator," she said.
Fish and Wildlife officials said alligator attacks are rare. State wildlife officials have not interviewed the victim, but they hope to learn more about what led to the attack once they speak with him.
Officials said the gator will likely be euthanized.
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