Old People Are Stubborn

Stay out of her marigolds:

Constance Gittles thought it was just a snake.

The south Punta Gorda woman was watering plants in her backyard Tuesday when she felt something bite her leg just above the ankle.

Gittles, 75, quickly pulled her foot away. Instead of a snake, a nearly 6-foot-long alligator was sitting there.

“When I looked down I saw this fellow looking at me,” Gittles said.

But Gittles didn’t panic. She defended herself with the hose.

“I just whacked him right in the snout with the nozzle,” she said. “After that, he took off.”

Even though she was bit to the bone, she finished watering her plants. Watering restrictions are on, you see, and Tuesday is her watering day.

South Florida Alligators are well-known for having a gardener tooth, so she's lucky she didn't get worse.

UPDATE:
Pam points us to this story on a local woman's presumably being killed by a gator yesterday. Thanks, Pam:

Construction workers found the dismembered body of a Davie woman on Wednesday who was attacked by an alligator after she went out for a nightly jog, authorities say.

The body of Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was found floating in a canal between Markham County Park and State Road 84 in Sunrise, police Lt. Robert Voss said.

She was last seen dangling her toes in the water. We'll know more about what happened after the autopsy.

UPDATE II:
It's been confirmed. She died of blood loss and not drowning:

A Davie woman found floating in a canal near Markham Park was stalked and killed by an alligator, then dragged into the water, an autopsy confirmed on Thursday.

The Broward medical examiner Dr. Joshua Perper shockingly added, "When they are hungry they can be very very aggressive and attack for food purposes."

I'll add only what was said two years ago at the death of Janie Melsek:

“For 21 years, I’ve been teaching people that if an alligator hasn’t been fed or isn’t protecting its babies, it’s OK,” said Kristy Anders, education director of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, who was not speaking in behalf of SCCF. “But it’s not OK. These are prehistoric animals with instincts programmed for 200 million years.”

Far from being inconvenienced, alligators like what we've done to the place. Man-made lakes and canals, and soft green lawns make for a very pleasant environment.

***
Update:
Feast, Interrupted

Posted by floridacracker at May 10, 2006 11:56 PM