A Lakeland City Commissioner (and fishing guide) has been credited with saving a dog from the jaws of an alligator while cleaning up after Hurricane Irma.
Bill Read said his neighbor's dog, Dixie, got through some open gates and headed for the lake in his backyard Tuesday.
Read saw a ripple...
And then a gator...
The gator wrapped its jaws around the dog and rolled her underwater. But a few seconds later, the dog emerged. When Read spotted the gator again, he chucked a rock at the reptile, hitting it on its side.
It snapped at the rock and slowed, buying Dixie a few precious seconds.
He hurled another brick at the gator as the dog swam to shore.
Dixie suffered two puncture wounds on her side, and scrapes.