Posted on 06/20/2022 7:58:17 AM PDT by Red Badger
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (TND) — In what must have been a terrible surprise, a north Florida man reportedly says a monstrous alligator exploded out of the water and devoured his beloved pet while they were playing fetch.
Josh Wells tells the Tallahassee Democrat he was with his 40-pound black Labrador Retriever mix, named "Toby," on a nature trail in early June when the attack happened.
Toby was reportedly standing in shallow water near the trail when he was grabbed, head first, by the gator. Wells says he and Toby were playing fetch with a tennis ball at the time.
Boom, the water just sort of exploded," Wells says to the newspaper. "He never barked. He never saw it... It took him down like it was nothing.
Wells only stopped himself from chasing down and grabbing the gator after seeing how large it was, he reportedly recounts.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) incident report reveals the gator who ate Toby was a little bit more than nine feet long, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
The area where Wells and his dog were playing is reportedly known to be a popular area where neighborhood kids play in the water.
There’s cul-de-sacs, you’re not expecting a gator to come out and eat your dog," Wells reportedly tells the newspaper. Trappers with Florida's Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) were reportedly able to locate and euthanize the gator who killed Toby and were even able to retrieve the beloved pet's remains so that Wells could bury them.
Toby's death comes just weeks after a 47-year-old man was presumably attacked and killed by an alligator while he was searching for a frisbee near water in Florida.
Alligator attacks in Florida are said to be rare by FWC, but the organization warns people should still be vigilant.
Although many Floridians have learned to coexist with alligators, the potential for conflict always exists. Serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida," says Florida Fish and Wildlife on its website. "Remember, never feed an alligator and keep your distance if you see one. Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours. And keep pets on a leash and away from the water. FWC estimates there are about 1.3 million gators in Florida, and they all become more active in the spring and summer when their metabolism increases.
If anyone in Florida even encounters a "nuisance alligator," the FWC says, they can contact a hotline with their information at 866-FWC-GATOR.
Yep, I had it on 45 RPM. I played that a lot. The rest of my family for some reason may have thought it excessive, it ended up broken in half. LOL
Lol,us too! We had a toy record player for kids we played it on- over and over and over. Our poor parents lol
he put his beloved dog in extreme danger.....
Wondered whether they had gotten into a scuffle and didn't see the vehicle that hit them.
I would like to ask the gator, “Does dog taste like chicken?”
The teeth of alligators are not “razor sharp”.
I’m from Florida. Even as a kid we knew to be careful around the creeks and keep the dogs out of the water. Gators are everywhere.
“Toby was reportedly standing in shallow water near the trail”
I feel sorry for the man for the loss of his pet, but I would not have presented my pet to a place it is obvoius gators are near by and so easily able to attack.
Surely gators have been removed from the endangered list??
When will hunting them be encouraged?
They didnt understand that only chickens can cross the road
that bites...
Must be a Korean....................
I had huge bull gator attack my front bumper and fender on a desolate red clay road late one night near Coy Alabama
I honked and got near him
He wheeled and attacked my truck
Guess he was looking for a date moving from pond to pond or slough
They can climb fences?
Was it a Dodge?.................
this got us kicked out of boy scout campfire skits.
Murder Hornets.
Alligators in Trees.
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