A Fort Myers woman suffered bites to her arm and leg Sunday after wildlife officials said she had an encounter with an alligator while walking along a submerged area in the CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Trails area in Collier County.
A gator was later trapped and removed from the area.
A report from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission agent in Collier County said that on August 17, the FWC received a report of a 62-year-old woman who was bitten on the leg and arm by an alligator after she unintentionally made contact with the around 7-foot-long animal while hiking through water at the CREW site.
The victim was identified in a Collier County Sheriff's Office report as Michelle Miller.
A companion with Miller said they were walking on the Purple Trail in the Flint Pen Strand Trails area nearby when the incident happened. The companion described it as an attack in a 911 recording.
"We were doing a wet walk, and the gator jumped out and grabbed her," the companion told the 911 operator.
The Sheriff's Office report said Miller began walking onto a watery portion of the trail which began as a wide pathway and narrowed to a much slimmer passage. At that juncture, the report said, Miller did not notice a seven foot alligator laying in wait.
The Sheriff's Office report further described the incident: "The injured person seemed to have entered the alligator's area of operation, and it lurched forward in an aggressive offensive. The alligator opened its powerful jaws and clamped down on the injured person's left leg which trapped her in place. The injured person fought desperately to escape the alligator's death grip, but she could not escape. The power of the alligator's jaws tore through her flesh and fractured her tibia."
The report said the gator tried to drag Miller deeper into the wooded area. Those with Miller managed to extricate her from the gator's mouth and pull her away, the report said.
A Sheriff's Office deputy reported that he observed Miller had several deep penetrating wounds on her left leg along with injuries to her right hand and arm.
Miller was taken by medical flight helicopter to Gulf Coast Medical Center Trauma and Emergency Center in Lee County.
The FWC responded to the scene, and a contracted alligator trapper was dispatched. On August 18, the contracted alligator trapper returned to the area with FWC officers and removed an alligator.
The FWC said that serious injuries caused by alligators are rare in Florida.
"The FWC places the highest priority on public safety and administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP)," a statement from the agency said. "SNAP uses contracted nuisance alligator trappers throughout the state to remove alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property. People with concerns about an alligator should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and we will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation."
The FWC said it works to keep Floridians and visitors informed and recommends the following precautionary measures near alligators, including in or near the water, to reduce the chances of conflicts with alligators:
- Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator. If someone is concerned about an alligator, they should call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and we will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.
- Keep pets on a leash and away from the water’s edge. Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey.
- Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
- Never feed an alligator. It’s illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food. This can lead to an alligator becoming a nuisance and needing to be removed from the wild.
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