Yeah, I’ve been away a while. Sorry about that. Lots going on. No time to explain. Now on the story.

The FLORIDA MAN meme has been around for a while and I have featured several stories about it on this blog (you can search for some if you wish). The meme is based the many headlines that start “Florida Man…” and then details some stupid or careless or outrageous action of yet another male from this state due to alcohol, other impairment or just plain idiocy. Seems to happen a lot in this state. I usually find the nuggets in local press coverage but imagine my surprise in my daily reading of the New York Times to see a headline “Florida Woman …”. It is not equivalent as she didn’t do something wacky, just got herself in a careless mess. The actual article can be found here…

But I couldn’t resist a brief summary for this blog. Seems this Florida Woman always takes her Shih Tzu puppy for a walk near a creek by her home.

Apparently this Florida Woman did not understand the simple rule of Florida life. If there is a body of water in the state, it will almost certainly include an alligator.

Sure enough the Shih Tzu appeared to the Alligator to be a lovely appetizer so the Alligator lunged at it. He caught the leash in his mouth but the Florida Woman tugged right back. The Alligator started pulling backward dragging the Florida Woman and Florida Dog into the creek. By this time the Florida Woman popped open the collar and tossed the Shih Tzu onto the bank. The Alligator did not take kindly to loosing it’s canine meal and chomped down on the Florida Woman’s arm.

It just so happened that the Florida Woman was a former rugby player (of course she was) and she attacked the Alligator, kicking and punching for all she was worth. She managed to flip it over on its back at which point it loosened its jaws enough for Florida Woman to escape. Authorities were called, her wounds were tended to, and the offending Alligator was trapped and removed as a so called “nuisance animal.”

So a happy ending for everyone but the Alligator. The New Times did not feature a photo of the Nuisance Alligator but I’m guessing that right about now it likely looks a little like this…

You just gotta love this state…