Alligators and crocodiles are scary, and we can all agree on that. But some people dare to approach them and even resist them.
An elderly Florida man recently fought an alligator to save his puppy from certain d.e.ath. A wildlife camera captured the entire incident.
Richard Wilbanks, a 74-year-old resident of Estero, Florida, was walking with his dog Gunner by the fish pond in his backyard when a young alligator jumped out of the water and grabbed the 3-month-old puppy began to pull it into the water.
Wilbanks immediately jumped into the water and wrestled the alligator with bravery that even Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, would envy.
The internet buzzed about this 74-year-old man who fought an alligator to save his puppy.
“We were just walking by the pond, and it came out of the water like a missile,” Wilbanks told CNN. I never thought that an alligator could be so fast. It was too quick. ”
He said the adrenaline kicked in right away, and he hastily jumped into the water to fight off the beast.
He was walking his three-month-old puppy around his backyard pond when a young alligator leaped out of the water “like a rocket.”
Keeping a two-foot alligator wasn’t too difficult. A four-foot alligator can be a real threat in the wild to put things in context.
The hard part of the battle was forcing the animal’s jaws open. The brave pensioner caught the alligator for the first time and carried it out to dry land. He then pushed his hand into the animal’s mouth and began to force it open.
He opened its mouth wide enough for Gunner to run away. The puppy escaped with only a puncture wound, but its owner’s hand had multiple bites and w.o.unds.
The skirmish was captured by a wildlife camera located there by the Florida Wildlife Federation and the fSTOP Foundation. The objective was to capture wildlife videos for their campaign called Sharing Landscapes. It intends to help people understand and acknowledge the flora and fauna they live nearby.
He pulled the young crocodile out of the pond and forced it to open its jaws to release the puppy.
It is not difficult to pull out a young alligator about 2 feet long, but getting it to open its mouth is tough.
“We live in a shared landscape,” said Meredith Budd of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “We not only want to tolerate wildlife, but we also want to thrive with wildlife on a shared landscape.”
Regardless of his dog having a near-death encounter with the alligator, Wilbanks endorses the initiative and its purpose, and he wouldn’t want the alligators to be relocated because they are part of the environment and part of our lives.
So now, every time he takes his dog out for a walk, he ties it to a leash and a safe distance from the pond’s edge.
The Florida Wildlife Federation and the fSTOP Foundation shared this footage with the media.
When they go out for a walk now, Gunner is always on a leash and at a safe distance from the pond
Everyone applauded the elderly man for being a hero and coming to his dog’s rescue. Some people point out that he’s the textbook example of badass, not only because he saved his puppy but also because he didn’t drop his cigar all through the struggle.
Here’s how people reacted to this video:
