Massive Alligator With 'Menacing Eyes' Charges At Man Near Lake [Video]

Largo, Florida -- A man narrowly escaped an alligator attack at a Florida lake after the reptile charged at him.

The incident occurred at the same place where an alligator killed a man, who was looking for a Frisbee, last week.

Foster Thorbjornsen told his followers on Facebook that, while he was out on a walk near his home Monday, he spotted a big alligator floating in a lake about 20 feet from shore.

“He was the biggest alligator I have seen in the wild (8 to 10 feet long),” wrote Thorbjornsen. The professional photographer said he stopped to take close-ups, while the animal stared back with “cold, dark, menacing eyes.”

When he just turned his gaze away for a second to check his camera, the reptile “quickly swam to shore and charged at me,” stopping just short of a few feet away.

“The timing of his charge was deliberate,” Thorbjornsen wrote of the encounter. “He waited for me to turn and look away. It was nerve-wracking and intense.”

The man considered himself lucky as there was a steep embankment and a tree separating him from the reptile. However, there was still a risk of an attack as gators are known to be great climbers.

Last week, a 47-year-old man – identified as Sean Thomas McGuinness – died after he was mauled by an alligator at Taylor Park. Following the incident, the animal was captured and reportedly euthanized at the outdoor facility. The facility also put up clear “No Swimming” signs throughout. “According to Park Management, McGuinness was known to frequent the park and enter the lake with disregard to the posted ‘No Swimming’ signs,” the Largo Police Department said in a statement at the time.

In another incident earlier this month, a 49-year-old man in Florida was bitten by an alligator after mistaking the 7-foot reptile for a dog. The authorities said they successfully removed the gator from the property following the incident. The man was walking outside the Warm Mineral Springs Motel in North Port when he saw a dark figure moving. “The figure appeared to look like a dog with a long leash, which is why he wasn’t hesitant to move out of the way,” the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the outlet. “That’s when the alligator bit his right leg, holding on, and pulling on his muscle/tissue ... He attempted to get away at that point and felt the alligator rip a chunk of his muscle/tissue off.”