74-Year-Old Man From Florida Fights Alligator And Saves His Three-Month-Old Puppy
Florida wildlife stories do not usually end with a puppy rescue, but this one did, and it happened in the backyard. A 74-year-old man from Estero, Richard Wilbanks, ended up wrestling a young alligator after it snatched his three-month-old puppy, Gunner, near a fishpond.
The whole encounter was caught on a wildlife camera, showing just how fast the situation turned dangerous. Wilbanks jumped into the water, fought the gator, and managed to pry its jaws open long enough for the puppy to get away, even though he was left with injuries of his own.
Now the footage is making the rounds, and the reaction has been exactly what you would expect. Read on.
The internet went wild over this 74-year-old man who fought an alligator to save his puppy
“We were just out walking by the pond,” Wilbanks told CNN, “and it came out of the water like a missile. I never thought an alligator could be that fast. It was so quick.”
He mentioned that the adrenaline kicked in immediately, prompting him to impulsively jump into the water to fend off the beast.
He was walking his three-month-old puppy around his backyard pond when a young alligator sprang out of the water “like a missile.”
When the alligator grabbed the dog, the adrenaline kicked in, and Wilbanks immediately reacted
Holding the two-foot-long alligator wasn't particularly difficult. To put things in context, a four-foot alligator can pose a real threat in the wild.
The challenging part of the battle was forcing the animal's jaws open. The brave retiree first grabbed the alligator and carried it to dry land. Then he pushed his hands into the animal's mouth and began applying force to open it.
He managed to open the mouth wide enough for Gunner to escape. The pup fled with just one puncture wound, but his owner's hands bore multiple bite marks and injuries.
The skirmish was captured by a wildlife camera set up by the Florida Wildlife Federation and the fSTOP Foundation. The objective is to record videos of wildlife for their campaign called Sharing The Landscape, which aims to help people understand and appreciate the flora and fauna they coexist with.
He pulled the young alligator out of the pond and forced open its jaws to release the puppy
The young two-foot-long alligator wasn’t difficult to pull out, but forcing it to open its mouth was hard
The young two-foot-long alligator wasn’t difficult to pull out, but forcing it to open its mouth was challenging.
“We live on a shared landscape,” said Meredith Budd of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “We don’t just want to tolerate wildlife; rather, we want to thrive alongside wildlife in a shared landscape.”
Despite his dog’s near-death encounter with the alligator, Wilbanks supports the initiative and its purpose, stating that he wouldn’t want the alligator to be relocated because they are part of the environment and our lives.
Now, every time he takes his dog out for a walk, he keeps him on a leash and at 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 walks now, Gunner is always on a leash and at a safe distance from the pond’s edge
People applauded this senior citizen for being a hero and coming to his dog’s rescue. Some remarked that he is the textbook example of a badass, not only because he saved his puppy but also because he didn’t drop his cigar throughout the struggle.
This is similar to the German Shepherd defending a six-year-old from the neighbor’s attacking dog.
That detail only made the story more memorable.
Here’s how people reacted to this video:
After Wilbanks’ alligator fight, see how a forest guard carried a 100-kilogram baby elephant to safety.
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