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85-year-old man bitten by alligator at Florida retirement community

Posted at 12:26 PM, Dec 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-03 18:49:04-05

LAKELAND, Fla. — An 85-year-old man was bitten by an alligator at a retirement community Monday afternoon, FWC says.

Officials say the alligator was 9-feet-9-inches and trappers pulled it out of a pond Monday afternoon.

It happened at the Cypress Lakes Retirement Community.

The man was reportedly bitten on the foot and taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center where the extent of his injuries are not known at this time.

The community posted on its Facebook page about the incident and reminded residents about safety around alligators.

Jane Rickel lives here and says 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. There isn’t a pond in here that doesn’t have alligators,” she said.