OCALA (CBSMiami) – A Florida woman, paddleboarding in a lagoon at Silver Springs State Park, had a scary and potentially dangerous close encounter with a very large alligator and it was all caught on camera.
In multiple videos and photographs posted to her Facebook page, Vicky Reamy Baker, of Ocala, can be seen sitting on her paddleboard as the gator slowly glides through the water right up to her paddleboard.
In the videos, Baker can be heard saying, “What are you doing? Get away from me, get away from me,” as the large gator approaches.
Eventually, she says, “Oh sh-t, no, go away,” before pushing it away with her paddle.
But that didn’t work. It made it mad and hissed at Baker.
In the distance, a man can be heard saying “Ma’am, I would suggest backing up, considering you just made him pretty mad.”
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In another video clip, she talks to the gator, “Why are you messing with me? Why are you trying to bite me?” she said. “What the heck man.”
She then tells the camera, “I’ve never had a gator come after me like that before. Look how close he is to me. He came after me and tried to bite my paddleboard.”
Finally, the gator slowly swims away, and Baker said, “Someone has been feeding him and made him very dangerous. He was a big boy.”
There are alligators in all 67 Florida counties and more than 200,000 alligators in the Everglades.
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It’s rare for people to be seriously hurt by gators in Florida, but it does happen. Most alligators are naturally afraid of humans but may lose that fear when people feed them, according to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.
CBSMiami.com Team
