Two teens became heroes recently when they stumbled upon that age old Florida struggle of Man vs. Alligator–only it was the man who was out for blood.
Daniel Butler, 18, and his friend Ryan Stomsnes, 16, were walking along the water in the town of Mulberry when they saw Matthew Pope attacking an alligator in the water.
The teens say Pope told them he was wrestling the alligator in an act of vengeance for his dog, which he said had recently been eaten by one of the reptiles.
‘I don’t know what was going through his head because I would never even attempt a thing like that,’ Butler told WTVT. ‘I just can’t believe he actually tried to wrestle a gator.’
Butler said Pope tried to grab the gator by the snout before it broke free and attacked Pope.
‘The gator dragged him under and he was gone for a few seconds. He came up screaming,’ Butler said.
Even faced with the horrific scene, Stromsnes leaped into action.
‘I was just freaking out and jumped in and then grabbed it by its tail, that’s the first thing I saw,’ he told WTVT.
Butler soon jumped in to help Pope as well. When he touched the alligator’s belly, he said it ‘freaked out’ and swam away.
In it’s wake, Pope was left with a mangled arm.
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As if Pope’s reason for attacking the gator weren’t strange enough, the teens say it wasn’t even true.
‘We heard later he probably didn’t have a dog. He was just trying to get the gator,’ Stromsnes said.
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