A Florida couple brought new meaning to the phrase “See you later, alligator” this week when a nearly 7-foot reptile suddenly appeared in their home — prompting them to get wildlife officials involved.
Lee County residents Paul Quinn and his wife Mary Jo detailed their Sunday, March 9 encounter with an alligator to local NBC affiliate WBBH this week, as Paul said the unlikely guest appeared by his side when he was home alone.
“I’m like, ‘Is that really an alligator in my living room or in the kitchen area here?’ ” Paul said. “And then he saw me and he started running and I’m like, ‘Oh, crap, I got to deal with this today?’ ”
After Paul called 911, a far more welcomed visitor from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) came by to handle the situation, he told the outlet.
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Footage shared by Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG shows the reptile lying near the couple’s kitchen table. Upon spotting the animal, Paul said he kept his distance and waited for officials to come by and assist. The footage also details what happened when the alligator took a bite out of an apparent kitchen-table chair, as an FWC official quickly lured the animal out of the home with a pole.
The gator left a surprise for the couple too, as it lost a couple of teeth in the process, according to WPTV.
As for how the reptile found its way in the home, per WBBH, the Quinns often leave their door open for a nice breeze — meaning the intruder likely broke through a screen to gain access.
“That made me nervous,” Mary Jo said of the ordeal. “I don’t want to have a fear of an alligator just walking up our front walk into our foyer again. I can’t live like that. I live in Florida. I love living here. I’m not leaving.”
“They always tell you to be careful, you know, be mindful of the alligators,” Paul added. “This is why.”
According to the FWC’s website, state residents who have “waterfront homes” or “participate in water-related activities” may find themselves in “frequent alligator-human interactions.” Residents should “never feed an alligator” and must keep their “distance” if they see one, with Floridians encouraged to “keep pets on a leash and away from the water.”
This latest alligator run-in in Florida comes less than two months after resident Stacy Thrasher caught a video of a gator casually walking along a pathway toward a home in Ave Maria.
In the footage, a 6-foot, 400-lb. gator could be seen making its way to a residential porch. “I heard a big, swishing noise, and so I looked to my left to see what it was, and sure enough, there was an alligator sitting right there,” Thrasher told WINK-TV.
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