TAVARES, Fla. -- An alligator remained on the loose Tuesday after a retiree working in his yard fended off the attacking reptile by sticking a rake in its mouth.

Ralph Othus, 78, said that he was out raking weeds by the canal behind his mobile-home, when he was approached by a fast-moving, 10-or 12-foot-long male alligator.

"If you've ever seen one move, they are like lightning," Othus said.

Othus lives in a mobile home community with 280 homes linked by small waterways to the Dora Canal in Tavares.

He had seen the alligator basking in the waters near his home for the past couple of months.

If not for his rake, Othus said that he might not be around to talk about the experience.

The alligator, he said, was clearly in "attack mode" when it lunged toward him from the shallow water.

"The only thing I could do is stick the rake in his mouth," Othus said. "I happened to be in the right position with a rake at the time."

Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission considered Othus' report an "emergency complaint'' and dispatched a trapper to the scene Monday morning, said commission spokeswoman Joy Hill.

By Tuesday morning, the state-permitted trapper still had not caught the alligator, which may weigh 400 pounds or more.

"At this point, we're just waiting for the gator to take the bait," Hill said.

Meanwhile, state investigators said that they've found no negligence in a deadly alligator attack on a 2-year-old Winter Haven girl last month.

The report said that the death of toddler Alexandria Murphy on June 23 was "a tragic accident." The girl had climbed over a fence in her back yard and wandered away to Lake Cannon, where she was attacked and killed.

"In our opinion the death did not result from criminal conduct on the part of any individual," Assistant State Attorney John Aguero wrote in his report to Polk County authorities.

The 6-foot-6-inch alligator was later trapped and destroyed.