An 11-foot alligator that tipped over a canoe and killed a woman in Central Florida on May 6 served as a reminder that, while alligator attacks on humans are “extremely rare,” as a state wildlife official said, they do happen, sometimes with fatal results.

“This serves as a somber reminder of the powerful wildlife that share our natural spaces,” said Roger Young, the executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Florida had an average of eight unprovoked alligator bites a year over the 10-year period that ended in 2022, according to the commission. Many of them were serious enough to require medical attention.

The commission has been urging people to exercise caution in or near the water during alligator mating season, which runs from early April to June. The risk of an attack is higher, it said, because alligators tend to be more aggressive, active and visible during this time.

The agency and other wildlife commissions offered these tips for avoiding or staying safe around the reptiles, which can grow up to 15 feet long.

Where are they?

Alligators can be found from central Texas eastward to North Carolina, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Louisiana and Florida have the largest populations — more than one million each. Georgia has 200,000 to 250,000 alligators and South Carolina is home to about 100,000.

Morgan Hart, the alligator project leader for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, believes alligator attacks have increased in the state over the years because of “the sheer growth in human population in the coastal plain of South Carolina.”

When new housing developments are built, artificial lakes are often created with them and then quickly inhabited by alligators.

Be alligator aware.

If you encounter an alligator on land, “you can simply back away from it,” Ms. Hart said.

“Alligators will also hiss if they feel someone is too close and they can’t get away,” she said.

People should be wary of any alligator that approaches, she said, as it may be a sign that it has been fed and associates humans with food.

Humans should also keep at least 30 feet from alligators at all times, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

“They rarely chase people, but they can outrun or outswim the fastest person for the first 30 feet,” the agency said, noting that alligators can sprint up to 35 miles per hour for short distances on land.

Watch your children and dogs closely.

Alligators prefer to pursue prey they can easily overpower.

“Pets often resemble alligators’ natural prey,” said Lauren Claerbout, a spokeswoman for the Florida wildlife commission.

People should keep their pets on a leash and under control, and not allow them to swim or exercise in canals, ponds or lakes that may have alligators.

“The sound of dogs barking and playing may draw an alligator to the area,” the Florida wildlife commission said.

Be careful where you swim.

Wildlife agencies suggest that people swim only in designated areas during daylight hours, and without a pet.

“Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn,” Ms. Claerbout said.

If you encounter an alligator in the water, remain calm and do not approach it, according to the Florida wildlife commission.

Don’t feed them.

It is illegal, and dangerous, to feed alligators in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas (except during that state’s hunting season).

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said that people should not throw fish scraps into the water or feed other wildlife in areas where alligators congregate.

“As long as people don’t feed them,” said Donald Houser, the general manager at Gator Park, which is just south of Miami and features shows with alligators. He added that an alligator loses its fear of humans after three days of a person feeding it.

“Just stay away from it, basically,” he said.

How to fight back.

You should fight back against an alligator only if it gets hold of you, officials said.

“In that case, aim for its eyes, nose or throat, which are its most sensitive areas,” according to Everglades National Park in South Florida, adding that people should “hit, kick, or jab with as much strength as you can muster to try and force the gator to release its grip.”

Still, if you are grasped in an alligator’s jaws, there is a slim chance that you would be able to escape, Mr. Houser said.

“You better have someone close that knows what they are doing,” he said.

“Alligators don’t eat people,” he said, but they may bite someone and then spit the person out. By then, it may have held the person under water too long, he said, “and it may be too late.”

One day in the year 79, Pompeii came under fire. The explosion of nearby Mount Vesuvius sent a mushroom cloud of ash and rock into the atmosphere, pummeling the ancient Roman trading hub and resort in a ceaseless hail of tiny volcanic rocks.

Many residents ran for their lives, trying to find safety with their loved ones before searing volcanic debris buried the estimated 1,500 residents who remained in Pompeii.

In a study published last month in the journal Scavi di Pompei, scientists documented events at one home in the doomed city where a family sought refuge inside a back room by pushing a wooden bed against a door in a vain attempt to stop a flood of volcanic rocks from the sky, known as lapilli.

The small-but-well-appointed residence is known as the House of Helle and Phrixus, after a richly decorated fresco in the dining room. It depicts the mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle escaping their wicked stepmother on a winged ram only to have Helle fall and, ominously, drown in the sea below.

As with many ancient Roman residences, its atrium, an open-roof room centrally located in the home, was used for ventilation and rainwater collection. But on that day, the recess allowed volcanic rock to more rapidly overtake the space. Most Pompeians “had no clue what was happening,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, an author of the study and the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. “Many thought the end of the world had come,” he added.

In the years that followed, the hot ash that eventually buried the home solidified and left an imprint that archaeologists filled with plaster to reconstruct the shape of the wooden bed that remained. The technique helps illustrate the horror of the Pompeian dead in their final moments and how perishable everyday items made of wood, textiles and leather were situated in their environments.

The skeletal remains of four people, most likely members of the same family, were identified in the study. The lapilli, which reached heights as high as nine feet in some locations, could not be controlled, and researchers believe the people made a final attempt to escape, leaving the small room in which they had barricaded themselves. They got only as far as the triclinium, the formal dining room where their remains were found.

“The family in the House of Helle and Phrixus probably died when the so-called pyroclastic flow, an avalanche of hot ash and toxic gas, arrived and parts of the building collapsed,” Dr. Zuchtriegel said.

He and his colleagues suggest that the remains of the four people found in the home were from a family that stayed behind and may have included some enslaved members who worked at the residence. Still, archaeologists don’t know for sure if they lived there or simply took refuge after the homeowners had already escaped.

“It’s not certain that the individuals found in the house as victims were part of the family,” said Marcello Mogetta, an associate professor of Roman art and archaeology at the University of Missouri who was not involved in the study.

Among the skeletal remains was a bronze bulla that belonged to a child. The ancient amulets were worn like lockets around the necks of young free boys to shield them from danger until they reached adulthood.

“The amulet was supposed to protect them, so there’s a cruel irony to the fact that it didn’t,” said Caitie Barrett, a professor of archaeology at Cornell University who was not involved in the study.

Bourbon explorers sent by Charles III in the 18th century carried out rudimentary excavations of Pompeii that disturbed the skeletal remains of the victims found in the House of Helle and Phrixus. When they tunneled into the residence in search of valuables like jewelry and artwork, they left behind holes in the walls. These early excavators often had little interest in human remains, either in respecting their preservation, dignifying their deaths or studying their material culture.

But today it’s the human toll that feels most prominent for archaeologists and for many of the visitors who regularly pour into Pompeii. Whether or not the remains belonged to those who were indeed family will be something that researchers may try to uncover through DNA analysis in the near future.

Family or not, it doesn’t change the human tragedy of the story.

“Whatever the nature of their specific relations, they would have been the last people to offer each other comfort at the end,” Dr. Barrett said.