 A nine-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after he was attacked by an alligator when swimming in Lake Pontchartrain on Sunday. The boy was with his family near the mouth of Bayou St. John around dusk when the alligator bit his left leg. His father quickly intervened, freeing the boy from the alligator's grip. LSU AgCenter alligator specialist Mark Shirley says this time of year, if you're near a body of water, you're likely near an alligator. Just about any body of water is going to have an alligator in it. This time of year, four-, five-, six-footer, it's roaming around. And some of the larger males, they'll roam around quite a bit.