A man was bitten in the face by an alligator while swimming along the northern shoreline of Lake Thonotosassa yesterday, according to WTVT.
The man was rushed to Tampa General Hospital around 4 p.m. and deemed to be in critical condition, per Hillsborough County Fire Rescue (HCFR) firefighters.
"It was pretty gnarly," an unidentified witness told the television station. "He had a big gash on his face and he had a towel covering his wound." The witness helped the injured man wrap his face in gauze before the ambulance arrived.
Lake Thonotosassa resident Jamie Slatton told FOX 13 that he's never heard of an alligator attack on the lake, but mentioned that there has been a nuisance gator in recent months that trappers have been repeatedly trying to capture, to no avail.
"When you walk down by the lake, you'll stand right there and [the gator will] look at you like he's in a hunting mode," Slatton said. It's unclear if the gator described is the same one that bite the man on the face, but definitely possibly.
Alligator mating season typically runs through July, depending on temperatures, according to the FWC, so it is still important to be cautious of gators, especially while swimming in lakes.