Now, holding the alligator wasn’t too hard—the alligator was around 2 feet long. In context, it is said that a 4-foot alligator is considered a real threat in the wild.

However, what was hard was prying the beast’s jaws open. Wilbanks first grabbed the alligator and took it out to shore. Then he shoved his hands into the mouth and started forcing it open. Soon, the mouth was pried open wide enough for Gunner to be able to escape. The puppy himself had just one puncture wound, but Wilbanks’ hands were all chewed up.

The whole encounter was captured on a wildlife camera that was put there in partnership with the Florida Wildlife Federation and the fSTOP Foundation. The purpose of these videos is to capture videos of wildlife as part of their campaign called Sharing The Landscape. It aims to help people appreciate and understand the wildlife they live near.