Woman attacked by alligator

ST. PETERSBURG - Diane Blackwood is pretty matter of fact, despite the gouge in her thumb, and her heavily bandaged calf.

Earlier this week, she went to Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Pete to let her dogs run.

But as 5-year-old Ritka played down by the water, Diane saw something.

"It was hot so I went to stand in the shade and the dog was down next to the water. That's when I saw the water swirling," she said.

Blackwodd said knew it was a gator, and called Ritka to get away.

When she saw the gator, she turned to run, but slipped and fell. That gave the gator enough time to get out of the water and lunge at her.

"I went to get up, to run to get further away and that's when he lunged again. He grabbed my calf and I turned because he was tugging me, towards the water. I grabbed his jaw," she said.

The nearly 7-foot gator let go of her calf, leaving 23 bite marks. A photo shows the pattern of the bite marks, and it is evident the gator had her calf completely in it's jaws.

Then the gator snapped again, this time, grabbing her thumb.

"Then I was looking for something to grab on to, and grabbed the bony socket of his eye," she said. "Because I didn't want to play tug of war with my thumb in the middle."

She poked his eyes and the gator pulled back, going back into the water.

Fish and wildlife experts think Ritka was probably the real target. But say it's obvious the gator was not scared of humans, and that's why they stress over and over, do not feed gators.

"If you're feeding gators or walking your dog along the shoreline, it's an invitation for a meal to an alligator," said Gary Morse, with Florida Fish and Wildlife.

Diane says it's disappointing that people don't listen, and still feed gators. She says she knows she's lucky.

"The wounds are healing up good, they hurt, but they don't hurt as much anymore," she said.

It was painful, but she's glad she kept her cool, and fought off the gator.