The earliest known instance of a fatal alligator attack in the US goes back to 1685. Since then, more than 40 instances of fatal alligator attacks have been recorded.

This article covers the US states and cities that are alligator hotspots and the deadliest months for alligator attacks, along with some of the ages of those who fell prey to these dangerous animals.

View Fatal Alligator Attacks in the U.S. in a full screen map

Fatal Alligator Attack Hotspots: States and Cities

There have been 44 reported alligator attacks in the US across five Southern states. Of these, Florida has had the highest number of incidents (32). Florida is followed by South Carolina in alligator attacks (6), while Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia have reported three, two, and one attack(s), respectively. That said, alligators can also be found in Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—though no fatalities have been reported in these states.

Incidents are spread across various cities and counties. The list below summarizes those with more than one reported attack since records began:

• Charlotte County, Florida: 2
• Hilton Head Island, South Carolina: 2
• Lakeland, Florida: 2
• Largo , Florida: 2
• Martin County, Florida: 2
• Sanibel, Florida: 2

Five Florida cities or counties listed above have experienced two tragic incidents. In the 1970s, an alligator killed 52-year-old George Leonard while he was swimming in Charlotte County’s Peace River Canal. In 1988, the victim was Erin Glover, age 4, who was attacked and killed while walking along the shore of Hidden Lake, also in Charlotte County.

Youngest and Oldest Alligator Victims

Those attacked and killed by alligators in the US range from just two years old to age 90. We’ll take a closer look at the youngest of these on the table below.

Name	Age	Sex	State	Year
Alexandria Murphy	2	Female	Florida	2001
Lane Graves	2	Male	Florida	2016
Adam Binford	3	Male	Florida	1997
Erin Glover	4	Female	Florida	1988
Allen Rice	9	Male	Florida	1957
Bradley Weidenhamer	10	Male	Florida	1993
Robert Crespo	11	Male	Florida	1984
Brian Griffin	12	Male	Florida	2003
Phillip Rastrelli	14	Male	Florida	1978
Sharon Holmes	16	Female	Florida	1973

The youngest victims, Alexandria Murphy and Lane Graves were both just two years old at the time of their attack. Alexandria Murphy wandered away from her fenced backyard and was fatally wounded just 700 feet from her home on Lake Cannon in Winter Haven, Florida.

An alligator dragged Lane Graves underwater in the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa just outside of Orlando, Florida. When his parents tried to rescue him, his father was attacked by a second alligator.

As for the oldest victim, 90-year-old Bonnie Walker was killed in a retention pond near Brookdale Senior Living Center in Charleston, South Carolina. According to coroners, she died from “multiple sharp and blunt force injuries” that are consistent with those inflicted by an alligator.

The Deadliest Months for Alligator Attacks

Florida and Southern states are clearly hotspots for deadly alligator attacks. But are there patterns in the time of year they happen?

Of the 43 fatal alligator attacks that included time of year, the summer months have seen the most attacks (29 from May through August). Specifically, June had the highest amount (11). This includes one attack during the 1800s, three during the 1900s, and seven attacks in more recent years.

A couple of winter months (January and December) have seen zero attacks, so that may be the safest time to travel to the Sunshine State.

It’s worth noting that alligator attacks are less deadly than bear attacks. As for sharks and snakes, you’ll have to find out for yourself using our maps.

Wolf attacks are pretty rare in North America—there have only been about 100 recorded cases, fatal and non-fatal, since 1750. But that statistic is cold comfort if you’re out on a hike and get a feeling this fearsome creature might be trailing you.

So let’s take a look at some wolf attack hotspots over the years (countries, states, and specific locations), the months with the highest number of attacks, as well as their types (predatory, rabid, captive, or unprovoked).

View Wolf attacks in a full screen map

Wolf Attack Hotspots: Countries, States, and Specific Locations

There have been 105 wolf attacks reported in North America across four countries since records began. The United States has had the highest number of incidents (69), including the oldest noted attack on Plains Indians and other tribes stricken with smallpox in 1750. Canada follows the US in wolf attacks (34), while Mexico and Greenland have reported just one attack each.

We can break these numbers down further to look at the distribution of incidents across states and provinces. The following list summarizes those with three or more reported wolf attacks:

• Alaska: 15
• Ontario: 8
• Minnesota: 8
• Wisconsin: 5
• Saskatchewan: 5
• Iowa: 5
• British Columbia: 5
• Michigan: 4
• Arizona: 4
• Nunavut: 3
• California: 3
• Alberta: 3

Alaska is home to the highest number of reported wolf attacks, including the 2012 Lance Grangaard incident, which was not fatal. A lone wolf attacked Grangaard while the latter was on his snow machine. He fought back, knocked the wolf down, scared it off, and escaped by riding away. Grangaard received preventive rabies treatment as the wolf was never caught.

After the Last Frontier, we have the US states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa in terms of wolf attack prevalence. In 2019 alone, there were two non-fatal attacks involving dogs in Minnesota: the first, in May, saw two wolves attack Paul Moore’s Labrador Retriever as they searched for deer antlers. Moore swung his hatchet, hitting one wolf and freeing the dog. The second wolf continued biting the Labrador’s hindquarters. Moore fought back, using his body as a shield and kicking the wolf.

Two months later, in August, a wolf assaulted Ted Schlosser who was walking his four dogs near Shagawa Lake. Luckily, they all managed to retreat to the safety of his truck, though one of the dogs received veterinary care for a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia top Canada’s providences for wolf attacks. In 1996, a non-fatal attack occurred in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. During a family vacation, the Delventhal family of Pittsburgh had a frightening encounter with a lone wolf. Zachariah, one of the family members, suffered severe facial injuries and required extensive surgery when he chose to spend the night sleeping outside his tent. Authorities captured and killed the wolf, ensuring no further attacks occurred.

Speaking of Algonquin Provincial Park, it’s one of just two locations to have seen more than one wolf attack. The second incident took place in 1987, which you can find on the map when you sort by “Year.” Ellesmere Island, in Nunavut, is the only other location with two attacks.

The Deadliest Months for Wolf Attacks

You now know the locations to avoid… but what time of year should you steer clear of these wolf attack hotspots?

Of the 85 wolf attacks that included a timeframe, the month of March has historically seen the most attacks (11). This includes six attacks during the 1800s, three during the 1900s, and two attacks in more recent years.

After March, the winter months seem to have a higher frequency of attacks, with January and December being the next most prominent months. This is contrary to when bear attacks most frequently occur as, unlike bears, wolves don’t hibernate. You’re more likely to come across wild wolves during winter as their bodies can withstand harsh temperatures.

That’s not to say wolves aren’t also active during the warmer months, seeing as June and August have seen high levels of attacks.

Check out the years these attacks took place on the map above when you sort by “Year.”

Wolf Attack Types and Results

So far, we’ve gone over common wolf attack locations and timing. Now let’s take a look at additional factors in these gruesome events: the type of attack and the results.

Type of attack	Type of attack #
Predatory	23
Rabid	10
Captive	7
Unprovoked	6
Prey-testing agonistic charge	6
Possibly rabid	2
Rabies	1
Prey-testing Agonistic	1
Pack of wolves	1
Narrowly averted	1
Defending cows	1
Agonistic	1
Aggressive behavior	1

While a significant number of cases (42) lack this information, we can classify 23 attacks as predatory. Of these, four resulted in at least one fatality, including the attack on Candice Berner in 2010. Berner, a teacher and jogger, was found dead near a road with wolf tracks nearby. The medical examiner concluded her death resulted from wolf mauling, making it Alaska’s first fatal wolf attack with confirmed DNA evidence.

Nineteen other predatory wolf attacks were non-fatal.

Meanwhile, rabid attacks accounted for 10 cases, and seven reported incidents involved captive wolves. You can sort the map by “Type of attack” to see the specifics of these and the other reasons.

Altogether, there have been 33 fatal wolf attacks in North America and 72 non-fatal attacks. Other than wolves, we’ve also mapped Every US Shark Attack Fatality Since 1900, put together Bear Attack Statistics of North America, and explored 107 Deadly Rattlesnake, Copperhead, & Cobra Bites in the US. Have a look!

We all know that Google Sheets is great for storing and analyzing data. Some spreadsheets can contain geographic location information such as addresses or latitude and longitude coordinates. These can show sales stats, leads, or even wedding planning information.

There are plenty of ways Excel’s web-based competitor can help you display key location details. For example, you can sort a sheet of cities or states from A to Z, use conditional formatting to highlight duplicate entries, or summarize columns with pivot tables.

While many of these methods can help you visualize your location data, only a map offers the level of insight you’re likely looking for. The good news is you can make a Google Sheets map (what they call a geo chart)— all without leaving the platform.

Geo Chart Your Country, Continent, or Region Data

You no doubt had to make a few bar graphs or charts in grade school. However, there are more charts than just the bar variety. Google Sheets recognizes eight types of charts with 32 options in total, including two geo charts, one with markers and one without.

A geo chart

A geo chart with markers

You can use these two types of geo charts to create maps from your data in Google Sheets. Both note that these only work with:

• latitude and longitude
• regional data (continents, countries, or states)

Using a spreadsheet that contains sales data by country, here’s how to create a geo chart:

• Open your spreadsheet in Google Sheets
• Format your data
• First column: continents, countries, states, or latitude
• Second column: numeric data or longitude
• Select the cells you want to include on your geo chart
• Click Insert > Chart
• Under Chart type, scroll until you see the two Map options and make your pick. Note that for the map with markers, the data for each location defines marker size.

With the basics of your geo chart set, you can now customize your map.

Customize Your Geo Chart with Colors

Whether it’s country sales or an inmate population, ensure your map chart highlights your data with customizations.

Double-click your geo chart or select the three dots in the upper right corner of your chart and click Edit chart. Then, choose the Customize tab.

You can adjust your Chart style, including Background color, Chart border color, and Font.

Geo chart Region: Africa

You can also change your chart’s Geo elements, like the Region. The World view is the default. Choosing a Region will zoom in on that location in the geo chart, focusing on the data you want to see most.

Also within the Geo dropdown, you can adjust the color of the Min, Max, and Mid data values. By default, the Max data ($39,729 in sales) for country sales is denoted in green, while Min sales ($16,865) is in red.

This may be a great way to color-code sales data, but it may not be appropriate for other datasets. For example, you might want different color assignments on a geo chart of countries with the highest prison populations.

Navigating away from the Customize tab, you can resize your geo chart by dragging the edges in or out. Then, download or publish your chart to share on your website.

Creating, customizing, and sharing a geo chart in Google Sheets is simple enough and you have the benefit of remaining on the same platform as your data, but there are some downsides to keep in mind.

Cons of Map Charts In Google Sheets

The limitation of country, continent, or region data is the main drawback of geo charts. You’re out of luck if the data you want to display contains addresses, cities, states, or ZIP codes.

Another drawback is that, even if the locations associated with your data fit into Google Sheets’ mold, the platform can only show numeric data. This excludes numerous datasets with textual information.

Beyond that, a geo chart is a pretty basic map — and this isn’t just a Google Sheets issue. Even in Excel, there’s no heat map function or other insight essentials. Luckily, there’s an alternative that’s as easy as copy and paste.

Use a Tool Intended for Mapping

Google Sheets and other spreadsheet tools are for storing data and basic analysis — not for mapping. Instead, use tools dedicated to map-making.

There are many such tools out there, as we outlined in Introduction to Map Making on the Web: ArcGIS and other desktop GIS software, the Google Maps API, and web-based mapping tools such as BatchGeo.

Not only can BatchGeo map country, continent, and region data like Google Sheets, it can also identify common landmarks, addresses, cities, and ZIP codes. Check out the same country sales data we used in Google Sheets geo charts on our map below:

View Country sales in a full screen map

Along with more flexible location mapping, your numeric and textual data will be available for grouping. This is in addition to the many more ways you can get insights — including the ability to visualize the geographic density of your data with a heat map.

Get started with your own map today at batchgeo.com.