After her encounter with the 11-foot-long reptile, Mary Wischhusen, a.k.a. the 'gator lady,' started receiving presents from strangers.
The Clearwater Police Department's Facebook post about the incident went viral, and was shared more than 14,000 times.
Wischhusen says she knows it was a bizarre incident, but she's surprised people are still talking about the close encounter."It should have died about three weeks ago," sheInstead, neighbors continue to call her the"gator lady," and strangers have left her gifts—mostly bottles of red wine to replace the ones the alligator destroyed. She received a sign for her door that reads"Enter at your own risk," with alligator claws on both sides.
Wischhusen, who lives near two golf courses and a retention pond, says she wasn't surprised to see the alligator. Living where she does, she's used to seeing gators, coyotes and other wildlife. Things are now back to normal—aside from a dent in her refrigerator where the alligator's tail swung into it. But Wischhusen is taking precautions against any more toothy visitors by installing hurricane-strength doors.
Though common in Florida, alligators generally don't pose a threat to humans. While encounters are common, bites are rare: According to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, records dating back to 1948 show that there has never been more than 15 alligator-bite incidents in Florida in a year.Still, experts recommend anyone who encounters an alligator to stay at least 40 feet away, as they can easily outrun a human from a distance of 20 feet.
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