Humans fear the prospect of being dragged underwater by a stalking alligator—a dog, a small Jack Russell terrier no less, lives to tell the tale. The gator’s got a different fate.
Tom Martino and his Jack Russell terrier, “Lizbeth”, were taking a daily afternoon outing and walk alongside the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida--when a gator interrupted the day, by jumping from the water, snatching the 15-pound dog from a patch of riverside rocks, and dragging the terrier dog under water.
Martino was literally quick on the draw, pulling a handgun to shoot at the water, so that the gator would be scared enough to drop the dog. The six foot long (plus) alligator did eventually let go after shots fired, allowing the guy to rescue his dog and perform CPR.
"She [the terrier dog] coughed up a bunch of water," says the dog’s owner, whom had never previously performed CPR on a dog. The nine-year-old Jack Russell, “Lizabeth”, is in critical but stable condition at a Tampa area vet. The dog’s recovering from bites and lung injuries after the underwater extravaganza—but, considering that the terrier was being treated for a suppressed immune system before the alligator attack, and everything being relative, things are in a pretty good zone.
CPR saved the Jack Russell’s life—which is more than can be said for the gator. Florida Fish and Wildlife arranged for the alligator’s capture by treble hook and fish line--the gator now declared a nuisance in its natural habitat, slated to be euthanized.
"I'm glad he's [the alligator’s] gone and nobody else got hurt," the terrier’s owner says.
The gator whose going to be killed may have a different view: setting a 15-lb dog “snack” on a pile of rocks, by a river in Florida, is about equivalent to throwing a ribeye on a patio--then asking your pit bull what happened to your steak.
Strangely enough, there was a 7-foot alligator caught knocking on a door two weeks ago. Wait, where was that again? Oh, right, Florida--in fact Tampa, Florida, which sounds like an awfully familiar area. Ironically, Hillsborough Deputies were called out--which seems like it might be in an awfully close area to that Hillsborough River, where that terrier was snatched.
Wait, there's really one million alligators living in the states of Florida and Lousiana? That's an awful lot--making gators actually quite "prevalent" in the state where the terrier was snatched, riverside.
It might even be wise, then, for dog owners to avoid certain areas while transporting a "snack on a leash". The "Alligator Dundee" trapper, who came to wrangle and pick up the "knocking alligator" (and the gator did pick a nice door to knock on), expressed that it was unusual to see a gator out in the autumn months (i.e., late October) when it wasn't mating season--but indicated that only other reason a gator might have come a 'knockin' was that it was looking for d-o-g-s.
Get it together, people: if a gator's gonna to to the trouble of traveling on foot, to knock on doors in order to find your dogs, it's gonna grab 'em off of a rock. Learn more about the "knocking gator" at the related link and separate video: if you live in Florida, get out the public safety message to the stupid ones, those who should've already heard it at least a thousand times.
Teach your neighbors the pyramid: If you live in Florida, there are alligators. Alligators need food to eat. You might eat an alligator, but an alligator might eat you. Your animals are pets to you, but represent food to the alligators where you live. Your pet won't eat an alligator, but an alligator will eat your pet. Walk and live accordingly.