Florida Woman Comes Face to Face With an Alligator While Paddleboarding

Have you ever come face to face with a giant alligator? For one Florida woman, this became a reality while paddleboarding.

Fortunately, she captured her bravery and the alligator’s unusual behavior on camera.

Check Out the Video Below!

“No! Go away!” the woman tells the alligator as he swims toward her board. She pushes on the middle of his body with a blue paddle. The alligator responds by grunting. His large body sits in the water, barely moving as she watches from her board.

“I had to push him away with my paddle,” she says incredulously. The alligator shifts slightly in the water, never taking his keen eyes off of the woman. He never acts aggressive, just calmly coasts in the water near the woman. Nevertheless, the proximity of the large predator is unnerving.

After continuing her day’s adventure, the alligator returns.

The woman, still on her paddleboard and clutching her paddle, wonders what is going on in the alligator’s head.

“Why are you messing with me?” she asks. Of course, she gets no reply other than that chilling alligator stare. His snout hovers near the surface of the water, the rest of his body entirely still.

“Why are you trying to bite me?” she asks. Still no action from the gator. “What the heck, man?”

The woman dips her paddle into the water cautiously, going slowly by the alligator. He waves his tail back and forth as he swims past her board and back into the swampy part of the water.

Why Does an Alligator Swim Close to People?

The woman speculates that someone has been feeding the alligator, making it comfortable to approach people.

“Someone’s been feeding that gator,” she remarks as it swims away. “Makes them very dangerous.”

In areas where alligators live, such as Florida, people who feed these wild creatures can make them too comfortable around people. Most people do not know how to interact with these animals and may startle them or make them feel threatened, leading to alligator attacks. Fortunately, in this case, the woman maintained a calm composure and the alligator swam away.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/cturtletrax