NORTH PORT, Fla. — A Florida man was bitten Tuesday by an alligator that he mistook for a dog.
WTSP says an unidentified 49-year-old man was bitten by an alligator Tuesday morning around 12:30 a.m. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies were in the area on another call when the man flagged them. He told investigators that he was talking outside a motel overnight when he saw something in the bushes, and thought it was a dog on a long leash.
The alligator got close enough to the man and bit his right leg, according to WFTS. The man told SCSO that he tried to get away and felt “the alligator rip a chunk off his leg.”
WFTS says an SCSO sergeant was able to catch the alligator and an alligator trapper was able to take it away from the area. The alligator was about 7 feet, 1 inch long.
The man was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to WTSP.
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