Man, 71, fights off alligator by poking it within the eye after it tries to eat him
James McMicken was out fishing in a canal near his home in Florida when he was dragged into the water by an alligator, but managed to free himself by attacking it
An elderly man fought off an alligator that leapt out of the water and attacked him – by jabbing it in the eye with a fishing pole. James Grayson McMicken, 71, was dragged into the water by the monster during a night of fishing near his home.
But the former alligator hunter said he stuck his thumb in one eye and jabbed it in the other eye with his fishing rod to fight off the reptile, which eventually let go of him and swam off.
He said: “I’ve always heard that if you’ve got no other choice, get them eyes, and that’s what got him off of me.
“I stuck my thumb in one eye, and I just took that fishing pole and jabbed him in that other eye and jabbed him and jabbed him and jabbed him. It seemed like forever, but it wasn’t that long. But then, he turned loose.”
James, who was fishing in a canal near his house in Florida, US, said he used his bulldog to get too his feet but passed out with exhaustion when he arrived home. He was rushed to hospital, where he was given stitches and staples for deep bite wounds.
He told local media: “I’d have never made it crawling this far, so I called my dog over. She stood there and let me get up on her back to where I could get stood up.
“All the nurses on the floor had to come by and go, ‘Wow, you did what?’ I’m going to do everything I can not to die. No gator is going to run me off.”
James is now recovering at home and starting physical therapy to recover from his injuries. He hopes to be back out fishing soon, but says he’ll be more mindful about how he approaches the water’s edge at night from now on.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said trapping efforts to find the alligator were still underway.
