A story about an alligator in Florida… Tell me if you’ve heard something like this before.
The Sunshine State is one of the most unique places in America. Not only is it home to Disney and Universal Studios, some of the world’s best beaches, and over 22 million people, but it also has a variety of wildlife that’s shockingly impressive.
From black bears to panthers, pythons to sharks, there’s few creatures you can’t find in Florida, but the king of them all is the alligator.
Over 1 million alligators live in and around the many Florida waterways, but sometimes one gets a bit of wanderlust and finds itself in quite a strange predicament.
Remember this monster that was walking on a downtown Tampa street or this one that broke through a door and was hissing in a woman’s kitchen? Safe to say, interactions with alligators are not uncommon.
Well, we can add another to the list as a woman called the Sarasota County Sheriff’s office last weekend asking for help removing a big gator from her house.
Mary Hollenback was watching TV Sunday afternoon when she heard the front door rattle so she got up to investigate. As you may have guessed, it wasn’t a person, but an alligator, who had pushed right through the magnetic screen door and made itself at home near the kitchen.
She told WFLA:
“So, I’m sitting on my sofa. It’s late in the afternoon. I’m just watching TV, and I heard my front door rattle, my screen door. And I thought somebody who didn’t live here was trying to come in, thinking that they were probably in the wrong house because that happens frequently. So, by the time I got up and went near the front door, the gator was already inside.”
People frequently walk in the wrong house where she lives? You may want to get a better door or move if that’s the case…
She went on to say her first thought was to call the police, but there was a problem. Her phone was sitting on the counter just feet from the gator.
“My mindset was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I have an alligator in my house,’ and at the same time, I’m thinking, ‘I have an alligator in my house, how am I gonna get rid of the guy?
The only thing I could think to do was to call 911, but my phone was sitting on the end of the counter. So, I had to get a little bit closer to him, grabbed my phone, and then went on the lanai and called 911.”
The authorities were quick to arrive and got the alligator out of the house without further incident. It measured 7 feet, 11 inches.
Some pictures she took were posted on social media and quickly starting going viral.
Good thing she heard it coming into the house, I mean can you imagine being in the bathroom, heading to the fridge for a snack, and getting your leg bitten off by an unseen alligator?
Things will never be normal in Florida, and as a former resident, that’s exactly the way it should stay.
