24-Year-Old Woman Fights Off Alligator in Florida Lake: 'It Came Up Out of Nowhere!'

Photo: John J. Dreyer/Getty Images

A 24-year-old homeless woman wrestled to free herself from an alligator after the animal attacked and tried to drag her underwater as she swam in Florida’s Lake Hernando early on Wednesday, PEOPLE confirms.

She was taken to Ocala Regional Hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the FWC. Hours later, WFTS reporter Ryan Smith tweeted a video of an alligator with its head just above the surface of the lake, noting that the footage was taken a few weeks ago.

“They fear it’s being fed, leading it to act aggressive near public beach,” Smith said of authorities.

The night following the incident, a trapper removed a pair of alligators, one nearly 7 feet and the other almost 8 feet long from the lake, a spokesperson for the FWC tells PEOPLE.

source: people.com