Lifeguard caught alligator with bare hands on Jacksonville Beach

The man who caught an alligator with his bare hands is telling Action News Jax how he did it.

“I was pretty shocked when I saw it was a gator, I was surprised,” said Nathan Bowcock, a lifeguard with Jax Beach.

Bowcock, was the guy in the video using a net to get a 3-foot alligator out of the ocean near Fifth Avenue South, Saturday afternoon.

“I wasn’t fearing for my life, but I was definitely scared the entire time,” he said.

Before that gator was captured – Bowcock was out in the water with his paddleboard trying to catch it. Thankfully, Bowcock did a little homework.

“I watched plenty of crocodile hunter when I was a kid,” he said.

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He knew to grab it by its jaw, and he did it with his bare hands.

“First time I grabbed it, pulled it up out of the water, he was really not resisting too much at first, I think he was pretty worn out,” said Bowcock.

While Bowcock said he couldn’t control both the gator and the board, Animal Control showed up and brought him a net – he was then able to safely catch and bring it to shore.

And now this lifeguard has a new nickname.

“Someone called me the gator hunter,” he said.

Lifeguards said they have caught three alligators in the last 10 years.

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