Alligator shows up at Florida family’s door and won’t leave. ‘He’s just looking at me’

An alligator showed up uninvited at a Florida home in the middle of the night — and the visit didn’t end well for the gator.

It happened around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8, in Bonita Springs, about a 150-mile drive south from Tampa, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

“I have an alligator at my front door and he’s not leaving. He’s just looking at me,” the homeowner said in a 911 call.

“I’m inside my home, looking out the window in my front door. ... I went out my front door to walk my dog and, of course, he was looking at me, so I went right back in.”

The man estimated the alligator at about 10-feet, and noted his biggest concern was not knowing where it might show up next on the property.

A state-licensed trapper was called and video shows he found an 8-foot, 11-inch alligator sitting in the yard like a lawn ornament.

The trapper took responsibility for catching it, but deputies weren’t let off the hook. They had to help lift it, and body camera video shows one deputy was stuck holding its toothy snout. (It was taped shut.)

“On three, really shove,” someone is heard saying in the video. “One, two, three, shove.”

With that, the alligator was shoved into the back of a truck.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports the alligator was “live transferred to an alligator farm,” which means its life was spared.

This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Alligator shows up at Florida family’s door and won’t leave. ‘He’s just looking at me’."