NORTH FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS12) — A 71-year-old Florida man is recovering after he says an alligator attacked him while he was fishing behind his home, forcing him to use a fishing pole and his hands to escape the gator’s grip.
James Grayson McMicken from North Fort Myers said the attack happened Friday night along a canal behind his residence. What began as a routine evening quickly turned into a fight for survival.
McMicken told WINK he had taken his dog outside and made a single cast into the water when an alligator suddenly lunged from the canal.
“I started reeling and it jumped out of the water and grabbed me,” McMicken said.
According to McMicken, the alligator bit his right leg and dragged him into the water. As the animal rolled him down the bank, he relied on knowledge he had gained from legally hunting alligators in the past.
“He rolled me down off the bank into the water,” McMicken said.
I stuck my thumb in his eye and I just took that fishing pole and jabbed him in that other eye and jabbed him and jabbed him and jabbed him.”
McMicken said targeting the alligator’s eyes eventually caused it to release him.
“I’ve always heard that if you’ve got no other choice, get them eyes. And that’s what got him off of me,” he said.
See also: Newly released body-camera video shows response to fatal Florida alligator attack
After the alligator let go, McMicken faced another challenge: getting back to safety. He said he called his dog over and used the animal to help steady himself.
After the alligator let go, McMicken faced another challenge: getting back to safety. He said he called his dog over and used the animal to help steady himself. (CNN Newsource)
“I’d have never made it crawling this far, so I called my dog over, and she stood there and let me get up on her back to where I could get stood up,” McMicken said.
Once inside the house, his wife cleaned his wounds before he lost consciousness from exhaustion.
“Then I sat down in my chair and passed out. I was so exhausted,” he said.
Family members later took him to Cape Coral Hospital for treatment. McMicken said hospital staff were astonished by the circumstances of the attack and his escape.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the attack occurred last Friday. As of Thursday, officers and contracted trappers had not located the alligator involved.
Despite his injuries, McMicken said he has no plans to give up fishing.
No gator is going to run me off.”
McMicken continues to recover and hopes to return to fishing soon. However, he said he plans to be more cautious around the water’s edge at night.