OT/ FL: Woman Is Saved From Alligator Attack By Husband.....
Slimpickins
***Just in case no one has spotted this story on Drudge's website....
Slim
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGA7L220IOC.html
Woman rescued from grip of gator
By LORIE JEWELL and CHRISTINE DeLESSIO
of The Tampa Tribune
A married couple's afternoon nude swim came to an abrupt and terrifying end
Wednesday when a large alligator attacked the wife.
Ray and Dagmar Dow were swimming in Lake Como Family Nudist Resort's 35-acre
lake about 2:30 p.m. when the alligator came up underneath the woman and bit
her twice, said Sabrina Vizzari, resort manager.
It is the second alligator attack since Saturday in west central Florida.
The woman was 10 to 15 yards offshore in waist-deep water, practicing
floating for an upcoming scuba diving certification test, when the alligator
pulled her under the water.
The gator twice gripped Dagmar Dow, a resident of Lake Como nudist resort,
and both times she was pulled away by her husband, Pasco County Sheriff's
Office spokesman Jon Powers said.
``The husband just kept kicking the gator in the face until he let go,''
Powers said.
Vizzari said the wounds were to the woman's foot and shoulder area.
Dagmar Dow, 43, was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, where she had
surgery, hospital spokeswoman Ellen Fiss said. She was listed in fair
condition following the surgery.
Trapper Billy Hearter from Hillsborough County was called to Lake Como
following the attack. He and other trappers were attempting Wednesday night
to lure the 8- to 9-foot alligator with meat. At first, they tried to bait
the alligator at the site of the attack using meat on a pole. Later, they
went out on the lake in bass boats in an attempt to trap the alligator.
This is the first alligator attack in Lake Como's 60-year history, Vizzari
said. The resort, just west of U.S. 41 and south of State Road 54 in central
Pasco County, has about 1,500 members and more than 20,000 annual visitors.
The property includes residential mobile homes, motel units, recreational
vehicle and camping sites, restaurant, bar and recreation facilities.
It holds several public events each year, including an annual Dare to Go
Bare 5K Fun Run in May and an inaugural clothing-optional flag football game
in January.
Resort officials recently asked for help from the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission in controlling the lake's alligator population.
Vizzari said there are five or six large alligators in the lake.
``We're trying to get them removed. A fish and game officer was just out
here Friday,'' Vizzari said.
Jeff Hudson, coordinator for the commission's nuisance alligator program,
said alligators are becoming desensitized to humans. More people are feeding
alligators and they're losing their fear of humans.
Gary R. Morse, regional public information director for state wildlife
commission, said the alligators don't know any better. They don't recognize
barriers, he said at a news conference at Lake Como.
The lake and beach area was closed to swimmers immediately after the attack,
and residents living along Lake Moss were notified, said Jackie Murphy,
manager of the resort's RV park.
``No swimming'' signs were being made, according to resort officials.
On Saturday, Alexandria Murphy, a 2-year-old Winter Haven girl, was killed
by an alligator after she wandered away from her home and to the shores of
Lake Cannon.
The 6 1/2-foot gator was trapped and killed the same day.
A medical examiner said the girl was drowned by the gator. She had bites on
both arms and her right thigh and a broken left arm. Her body was found by a
Polk County Sheriff's deputy on the lake shore near the alligator.
Alexandria was the 11th person killed in a Florida alligator attack in the
last 50 years, including a 71-year-old Sarasota man killed last month.
When a complaint about a nuisance alligator is received, the wildlife
commission decides if it is a threat to public safety and if so, sends a
contracted trapper, who has 45 days to find the targeted alligator and kill
or remove it. For an alligator to be deemed a nuisance, it must pose a
threat, such as showing signs of aggression to people or other animals,
according to wildlife officials.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
JonesieCat
"Slimpickins" <Sl...@work.com> wrote in message
news:tOE_6.12976$C81.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Now, I have to admit this. My first impulse was to think: she shouldn't
have been nude. Isn't that goofy? Would have had absolutely nothing to do
with the attack. Why does being nude seem like the woman would have been so
much more vulnerable to the alligator's attack?? (When, in fact, without
clothes to snag a gator's tooth on, she was probably better off nude.)
JC