BAY NEWS 9 (St Petersburg, Florida) 25 September 09 Alligator attacks woman on banks of Sawgrass Lake

Pinellas County: A Clearwater woman is the first person in more than three years to be attacked by an alligator in Pinellas County.

Diane Blackwood, 48, was walking her dog Monday afternoon at Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Petersburg when she noticed a swirl in the water.

"I was standing under a tree for some shade,' she said. "My dog was near the water when I noticed some swirling water. I knew it was a gator and called for my dog as I turned to run away. That's when I slipped and fell on the embankment. My dog ran away."

The gator missed her on the first lunge, but it was not deterred. It grabbed her on the second lunge.

"As I was trying to crawl away the gator lunged and missed me,' she said. "I thought okay I'm going to get away. Then the gator lunged a second time and bit my calf."

The reptile also bit Blackwood's hand as she tried to free her calf from its jaws.

"I went for his eyes because I didn't want to play tug of war with my thumb in the gators mouth,' Blackwood said. "And once I got my other hand in its eye socket the gator let go and went back into the water."

Blackwood then drove herself to the hospital. She said she feels okay, but she is still a little sore from her encounter.

Alligator control agent Charles Carpenter caught that alligator on Thursday.

"Called in the information to the state, and the Fish and Wildlife decided that with this size, he fits the description," Carpenter said.

The alligator is about 6-feet-9, but it is missing 12 inches of his tail, which means it is nearly eight feet long.

"What we heard was that this particular gator was about the only one in the lake that was not afraid of humans," Blackwood said said. "Which is a pretty good indication that people have been feeding the gators."

Officials with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they believe the combination of the gator's familiarity with humans and the dog near the water triggered the attack.

Blackwood is the first person to be attacked by a gator in more than three years in Pinellas County. There have been 14 alligator attacks in Pinellas County since 1948.

The last attack, in May 2006, was a deadly one. The body of Judy Cooper, 43, was found in a canal near Oldsmar, three days after she had been attacked by an alligator.

Alligator bites in Bay area (1948-present)

County #of bites -Most Recent

Citrus 4 - May 1999

Hernando 2 - July 1993

Hillsborough 11 - April 2008

Manatee 5 - January 2005

Pasco 11 - February 2007

Pinellas 14 - May 2006

Polk 24 - August 2007
Alligator attacks woman on banks of Sawgrass Lake

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