While most dismissed alligators as man-eaters, a few harrowing stories survived. One man writing for Harper’s Magazine in 1853 told how he got stranded on an island in an alligator-infested lake. Surrounded by hundreds of gators, he survived two nights by crafting a life vest from an inflated alligator intestine and using his shotgun to keep predators at bay before drifting to safety.
Another sensational tale from 1894 described a boy stranded in a tree as alligators swarmed below, drawn by overturned turkeys. With no way to swim or escape, the boy survived the terrifying night, eventually rescued after his friends returned with help.
