Alligator takes dip in Alabama man’s pool. But how did it get over the 8-foot fence?
Finding an alligator in your backyard swimming pool is surprising, even in coastal Alabama, but the mystifying part for Elder Steven McCulland Sr. is how it got there.
“I’ve been checking my fence line and there are no holes in my fence large enough for it to get under,” McCulland told McClatchy News. “There’s nowhere for it to dig, so he must have climbed over the fence.”
The fence is 8-feet tall and made of wood, with little in the way of leg holds for an alligator.
McCulland, who lives in Mobile, says he found the alligator about 6 a.m. Friday, and recorded the moment to share on his neighborhood’s Facebook page. The video, which has nearly 500,000 views, shows a 4-foot gator walking in circles on the bottom of the pool.
“I noticed something lying on my rope line in the water,” he said. “I took my glasses off and wiped my eyes, because I can’t believe what I thought I was seeing. I ran back in the house and woke up my wife, Evelyn, to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.”
Not only was the alligator enjoying itself, but it seemed to be taunting McCulland, as if daring him to do something about it, he said.
“When I started videoing, it started to do laps in the pool as to make fun of me, because I couldn’t get in. I was mad because it was in my new pool,” McCulland said.
American alligators grow to 19 feet and 900 pounds in Alabama, according to OutdoorAlabama.com. That suggests McCulland may have had a juvenile on his hands, something that is a small consolation. Alligators can remain submerged up to an hour, the site reports.
That’s about how long the gator stayed in the pool, as McCulland figured out who helps people with an unwanted alligator. He learned a wildlife conservation officer is the best option. By then, the alligator was out of the water and lying behind a shed in the yard.
McCulland speculates in one of the three poolside videos that it might have been someone’s pet, since there’s no suitable alligator habitat nearby. “No swamp or water is near my house,” he pointed out.
Coincidentally, the alligator did not damage his pool liner and it was polite enough not to poop in the water. Still, McCulland had a pool company come clean it anyway.
It’s not clear where the alligator ended up, but McCulland says he is not changing his pool routine.
However, he will be checking carefully before diving in.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Alligator takes dip in Alabama man’s pool. But how did it get over the 8-foot fence?."