It starts out like a bad bar joke: “A man saw another man screwing an alligator …” But in Florida, this actually happened.

A passerby was concerned when he came upon a man having sex with an alligator. But even more puzzling was what he was saying. The man could be heard saying: “Next time time you try to kill a man, you best get the job done. Now you’re my bitch forever.”

Apparently, this man had a good reason for raping the alligator, at least in his own mind: he says the reptile had bit at his pant leg while he was fishing in the swamp, then tried to drag him into the water. Though he escaped without injury, he wrestled the gator down, and vowed to get his revenge. The man reportedly told the police, “The gator tried to eat me and this was revenge, pure and simple. She was getting what she deserved.”