Here's a great bit of advice: Never try to touch a wild alligator. Unfortunately, that advice fell on deaf ears in South Carolina as 58-year-old Cynthia Covert was visiting a homeowner in a Kiawah Island gated community to do her nails when she spotted an alligator in a pond on the property.
She actually waded into the waist-deep water and tried to touch or pet the animal when it suddenly grabbed her. After briefly getting away from the alligator Covert said "I guess I won't do this again," but the alligator grabbed her in its jaws again and took her under this time, killing her.
Deputies and firefighters looked for Covert for 10 minutes before her body surfaced. When the alligator surfaced again, a deputy shot the animal in the head with his 9mm handgun. By that time, Covert had died of drowning with a severely damaged leg. The woman Covert came to attend to told deputies Covert typically was professional in her salon, but was relaxed and excited at the home, and brought a glass of wine with her. Covert saw the alligator while working on the woman's porch and when Covert finished she started taking pictures of the alligator and then jumped in the water.
Source: StarTribune