Watch: Paddleboarder films close encounter with alligator in Florida

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Video shared online shows a paddleboarder’s close encounter last week with an alligator at Florida’s Silver Springs State Park, WFTV reported.

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The video, shared on social media by Vicki Reamy Baker and obtained by WFTV, shows the alligator getting within feet of Baker’s paddleboard.

“What are you doing?” Baker can be heard asking as the alligator floats toward her. “Get away from me. No. Go away.”

At one point, Baker pushes the alligator away with her paddle, making it hiss.

“Oh my God,” she can be heard saying as a man in the background advises her to back up, “considering you just made him pretty mad.”

In a separate video posted on Facebook, Baker says that she believes someone has been feeding the alligator.

“It makes them very dangerous,” she said. “I’ve never had a gator come after me like that before.”

Statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show that between 2010 and 2020, about 10 alligator bites were reported in people each year. A majority of the bites reported were considered major, meaning that victims had to seek medical care beyond first aid to treat their wounds, though few were fatal.

Unprovoked alligator attacks, in which an alligator makes first contact with a human, are infrequent in Florida and rarely fatal, according to the University of Florida.

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