Daytona Beach man attacked by alligator on his front porch 

A Florida man was attacked by an alligator on Saturday evening after he opened his door to step outside, according to reports.

The man opened the front door of his home in the 1100 block of Champions Drive in Daytona Beach at around 9:30 p.m. local time on Saturday after hearing a noise coming from his front porch. The man believed someone might have been looking for his son and stepped out to see. 

However, as soon as he opened the door, an alligator attacked him and bit him on his upper thigh. 

"Went outside and didn't turn the light on and just got a step outside and something grabbed me on the leg, started shaking violently," the victim, Scott Hollingsworth, told WESH.

Hollingworth said he had originally thought a dog had bitten him. It was only later that he realized it was an alligator. Upon the realization, he stepped back inside his home and called the police. 

The man was transported to a hospital by medical personnel. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and had to get surgery on his leg. 

“Fortunately, there’s no damage to my knee, which I was concerned about,” said the victim. “Everything’s going well.”

Authorities found the alligator nearby under a trailer. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) was called to the scene to trap and euthanize the alligator. The alligator was nearly eight feet long, according to state-certified trapper Curtis Lucas. 

The attack comes after an 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator last month while she was walking her dog near a pond at her retirement community. The alligator dragged the woman into the retention pond, leading to her death.