Wanted: alligator with pocketknife in head

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A trapper in Florida is looking for a 6-foot alligator with a knife stuck in the top of its head, the Gainesville Sun reported Friday.

Matthew Goff was walking Wednesday with his bloodhound-Shar-Pei mix beside a pond near his house when out of two feet of water the big reptile lunged at the canine and began dragging her into the water.

Goff opened his pocketknife stabbed the alligator twice, the second time leaving the weapon in the attacker's head before running back to his house behind the dog, which had suffered numerous puncture wounds in her left leg plus cuts to her head and ear.

As of late Thursday, an alligator trapper was still hunting the wounded reptile, which had been spotted earlier in the day. The knife was still imbedded in his head, said Karen Parker with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Because of the animal's behavior, it will be destroyed after it's captured, she said.