Elderly woman killed by 2 alligators at Englewood Florida golf club after accidentally falling into pond only to be attacked as she struggled to get out of the waters.
An elderly woman has died after falling into a pond near her Englewood, Florida home where she was attacked by two alligators as she desperately struggled to get out of the pond.
The woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was seen falling into an alligator-infested pond near her home at the Boca Royale Golf and Country Club in Englewood Friday night at around 7.47pm, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators say that as the woman was struggling to stay afloat, with her panicked splashes attracting the predators who attacked her before she could swim out.
The woman a local resident at the gated community was pronounced dead at the scene, and an investigation is now ongoing.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said an 8′ 10” alligator and a 7′ 7″ alligator seen near the pond were removed according to ABC News.
Elderly woman killed by 2 alligators id as 80yr old Englewood resident
String of alligator attacks
The Boca Royale Golf and Country Club declined to release a statement. The country club is located in a 1,000-acre private gated community that features lakes and nature preserves, according to its website.
The woman’s death is the latest in a recent string of alligator attacks in the southern United States.
At the end of May, 47-year-old Sean Thomas McGuinness‘ body was found missing three limbs at the lake at the John S Taylor Park in Largo, Florida.
Investigators now believe he had gone into the 53-acre freshwater lake looking for UFOs when he was attacked. The park is home to an 18-hole disc golf course, with five holes adjacent to the lake, according to the Miami Herald.
Authorities noted that park management had reported ‘McGuinness was known to frequent the park and enter the lake with disregard to the posted “No swimming” signs.
Just a few weeks later, on June 24, an 11-foot alligator snatched and killed a 75 year old victim from a South Carolina pond.
Michael Burstein was near the pond when at the Myrtle Beach Golf and Yacht Club that morning, and police spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov said that by the time authorities arrived on the scene at around 11.45am, ‘units determined that an alligator had taken hold of a neighbor, and retreated into a nearby retention pond.’
11ft Myrtle Beach alligator kills man mowing lawn in Horry County community after homeowner association refused to cut grass https://t.co/lWF1VjMJMo #Myrtle Beach #Myrtle Beach alligator attack #Horry County #Horry County alligator attack
— Scallywagandvagabond (@ScallywagNYC) June 26, 2022
1.3 million alligators in Florida alone
He was then removed from the pond, and pronounced dead on the scene.
There have also been at least five attacks over the past year where people survived.
On June 22, for example, Samuel Ray told WRAL he was attacked by an alligator while playing catch near a pond.
‘It was about a foot away from the water,’ he recounted. ‘And then as soon as I put my hand on the ball, I bent over and picked it up – that’s when I saw the gator’s eye.
‘It lunged out, and it as so fast, it was like a lightning strike.’
Ray said the gator managed to clamp down on his hand, and his shoulder was dislocated. Still, he knew he had to do something – so he punched the alligator until it let him go and ran to safety.
In the end, he suffered a detached nerve and a lot of blood loss, but after three surgeries his hand remains intact.
And just a few days before, WCSC reports, a South Carolina man suffered non-life-threatening injuries when he was trying to help his dog get away from an alligator attack.
The dog also survived the incident and was doing fine.
Authorities note unprovoked alligator attacks are rare.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimated there are 1.3 million alligators in the state, the Miami Herald reports, but the state only averages ‘eight unprovoked alligator bites each year.’
