By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-04-04 17:16:29 | Updated at 2025-04-05 08:05:43
14 hours ago
An alligator bit off more than it could chew after it tried to consume a female bodybuilder's dog.
The 6-foot-6 predator lunged at the pooch, called Kona, as he was enjoying his evening walk in Tampa with owner Kim Jones, clamping its jaw around the mongrel's head.
But ultra-fit Jones quickly sprang into action to save her beloved pet.
'(Kona's) facing it, it's facing her, and it jumped out and got her,' Jones told Fox13 during an interview where her enviably-toned arms were on display.
'She was in up to here; her whole head was inside its mouth. I stopped thinking and just dove on it, jumped on it and straddled it, as lady-like as that is, and was trying to pry its jaws open.'
Jones says she was able to wrench open the gator's jaws from behind and save Kona.
'Its back was to me, so it made me just jump on,' she explained.
'We just got lucky because just as quickly as it ran after us, it ran back into the water, and we were out of there.'
Jones says she saw the gator's eyes moving towards her a few months before the attack, which took place as they enjoyed a lakeside walk.
Kim Jones and her pet dog Kona. She managed to pry Kona from a hungry gator's jaws after a recent attack during an evening walk in Tampa
Jones, who is incredibly-fit, got behind the gator and pulled its jaws apart to save her beloved pooch
The lake where the attack happened is pictured. Jones saw the gator approach and tried to pull Kona away from the water's edge, but says her dog was too strong
She tried to pull Kona away from the edge of the lake they were standing on, but says her dog is 'really strong' and was able to overpower her.
Both Jones and Kona needed stitches after the attack.
Kona is now sporting a plastic 'cone of shame' around her head as a reminder of the incident, but should make a full recovery.
Jones says she faced the extreme danger because she's an 'empty nester' and 'Kona is her baby.'
She says Kona is so precious to her that she didn't think of her pet as a mere animal and acted as if she would had the victim been human.
Managing to pry a large alligator's prey out of its jaws is exceptionally risky and carries little chance of success.
It also puts a human rescuer at risk of being eaten themselves.
Floridians and others living among gator habitats have been warned to stay away from the edge of bodies of water to minimize the chances of an encounter.
Pets should be kept indoors and experts also urge people living in gator habitats not to feed them or give them easy access to food.
Jones said: 'It could easily happen, and you might not be that lucky to get your child or your pet.
Jones injuries are pictured. She had to have stitches but says she has no regrets
A gator pictured in a lake close to Jones' home. She hopes her story will serve as a cautionary tale to others
'Many people say they are more afraid of us than we are of them, clearly not the case.'
In February 2023, grandma Gloria Serge was eaten by a gator while walking her pet dog in Fort Pierce.
Serge, 85, tried to shield her pet as the predator lunged from a lake.
But the frail grandma ended up falling to the ground and was quickly seized upon by the beast.
Horrifying surveillance camera footage showed the dreadful attack take place.
