Thomas Swiader embarked on a quick fishing trip with his girlfriend's dog Buffy, but he never expected what would come out of the water.
The Florida man was fishing on Triplet Lake in Casselberry on May 2, when an alligator attacked his kayak, knocking Buffy off the side, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
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The incident happened so quickly that it took Swiader a moment to register what had just occurred.
"I saw the tail of gator swim under the kayak, then I knew what it was. After that my reaction was to get out of there," he told the Sentinel.
Luckily, Buffy was on a leash, and Swiader was able to pull the yorkie back to safety.
"[I] threw her into my lap and she was so scared. She was literally curled up in a ball and did not want to move," he told WESH News.
Incidentally, Swiader captured the whole thing on camera. The video was later posted to YouTube, where the attack can be seen in both real-time and slow motion.
Wildlife officials said the animal likely thought the kayak was another alligator and was defending its territory, according to WKMG.
Swiader managed to escape without injury, but a recent gator attack in the central Florida area left a 75-year-old man with about 40 stitches.
Albert Miller was retrieving balls near the edge of a Lake Wales golf course pond in April, when a 9-foot alligator clamped down on his leg and attempted to drag him into the water, the Ledger reported.
"He had me submerged up to my belt buckle. That was my miracle of the month," Miller told the paper.
WARNING: The video below contains some adult language.
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