A Florida man answering a knock at his front door was bitten by a 9 ft long alligator when he opened it to see who was there.
Scot Hollingsworth, of Daytona Beach, told local TV station WKMG he was watching TV with his wife when he heard a bump at the door and got up to investigate.
I jumped up and went over, opened the door, stepped out while trying to reach the lights and barely got out of the door, and got my leg clamped on and it started shaking violently, he said.
He said it was just a total surprise and shock. I suspect that I surprised the alligator as much as I did. Hollingsworth was bitten in the upper thigh and taken to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the gator and later euthanized it.
Florida has a large and booming population of alligators which bumps up against the state's human population as it expands into the state's swamps and waterlands. Attacks and injuries are rare but do happen.
An 85-year-old woman walking her dog died last month when an alligator dragged her into a pond in south-east Florida after she tried to defend her pet from attack.