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Florida man struggles with alligator latched onto his boot

By Ben Hooper
A Florida fisherman works to pry an alligator's jaws off his boot. Screenshot: WINK-TV
A Florida fisherman works to pry an alligator's jaws off his boot. Screenshot: WINK-TV

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March 30 (UPI) -- A Florida man bass fishing at night ended up having to pry an alligator off his boot while his friends filmed the struggle.

"Oh snap, you've got a gator on your foot," Nino Alvarez recalled a friend telling him while they were out bass fishing last week in a Fort Myers canal.

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"I tried to go bass fishing here, and this [expletive] gator is over here, trying to eat me," Alvarez told WINK-TV. "I don't even think there's any more bass here. This guy already ate it all."

Alvarez posted a video to Facebook showing him attempting to pry the alligator's jaws off his boot while his friends laugh and film.

He said the alligator started trying to drag him underwater after the video ends, leading him to use his knife on the reptile.

"I feel bad for the gator, but it was either me or it," he said.

"The only unfortunate thing was a gator lost its life," Alvarez said. "I think what I could've done to prevent it was to use a flashlight."

Alvarez said the high quality of his boots prevented him from sustaining serious injuries from the alligator bite.

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Alvarez reported the incident to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which said it investigates all reports of alligator bites.

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