13-Year-Old Florida Girl Survives Alligator Attack While Swimming in Boat Dock

Briann Morr, a 13-year-old Florida girl, survived an alligator attack in Hardee County, Florida. The girl was swimming with her friends at the Gardner Boat Ramp in Zolfo Spring when she thought she heard something enter the water.

She said she saw an alligator, and it tried to grab and kick her foot under the water. Morr said she swam for her life, but the alligator went after her. When she turned her head, she recalled that its mouth was open and was close to her arm. She said she immediately "smacked" it.

Gardner Boat Ramp is along the Peace River and is a popular spot for kayaking, canoeing, and rafting. As per Miami Herald, the river is home to large alligators, and paddlers often see them in the water and river bank.

A bite incident

Morr was immediately rushed to the hospital by her mom, where she was stabilized. There were no details on the specific injury of the young teener, but Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) said that it was a "bite incident."

According to The Outsider, Morr said she felt her back, and it had a hole. Although she said she had difficulty lifting and moving her arm, the doctors said the damage was not permanent. Her mom said that her daughter was lucky and that the family would have been planning a funeral if not for her quick thinking.

FWC dispatched a nuisance alligator trapper to the area in the hopes of capturing the reptile and preventing future attacks. So far, the agency has no update if the trapper has located the alligator. The FWC's statewide nuisance alligator program monitors the threat of reptiles in developed areas. An alligator may be considered a nuisance if it measures at least 4 feet in length and poses a danger to people, pets, or property. Nuisance alligators are euthanized to prevent them from wandering back into the area.

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Alligator hiding under a Jeep

On Friday, July 22, authorities responded to a call that an 11-foot alligator was camping out in a jeep of a Charlotte County resident. Wildlife officers trapped the reptile and tried to remove it from the premises, but it let out a roar, indicating that it did not want to be removed from where it was. The alligator retaliated by taking out the resident's front yard light pole. A Wildlife officer noted that they knew alligators hissed, but they never heard them roar and have a hissy fit.

Newsweek reported that Florida has around 1.3 million alligators in 67 counties. Alligator attacks in Florida remain rare despite the state's abundant alligator population. It usually only attacks when provoked. However, in some cases, they attack even if unprovoked, especially if they are used to being fed.

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