It's not every day that you have an unannounced visitor taking a dip in your swimming pool – especially if the visitor is an 11-foot alligator that decided it was a great time for a late night swim in a random person's house.
Late Friday, the gator was pulled out from a swimming pool in Nokomis, Florida. The Sarasota Sheriff's Office reached the residence on the 2000 block of Tocobaga Lane after they were given reports of an 'animal problem', and upon reaching the site, found the reptile enjoying a dip.
In a video that has now surfaced the internet, the gator can be seen lapping around the pool and eventually thrashing around as a trapper tried to secure it from the water. Eventually, the gator can be seen getting captured and when it reaches the lawn, it starts struggling against the ropes that bind it.
So, remember that #gator call we went on earlier? Here’s some video as the trapper pulled him from the swimming pool. Did we mention he measured 11 feet long?! #TweetFromTheBeat #NeverADullMoment #OnlyInFlorida pic.twitter.com/s3DtK3xzPR
— SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) March 31, 2018
As per homeowner Patricia Carver, the alligator broke through her screened-in porch to enter the pool. Her husband heard the loud noise from the porch, which woke him up and, he went on to find the creature swimming in their pool.
"He opened the curtain and saw the head of a gator and said: 'Call 911, call 911!'" she told WFLA. "I felt a little apprehensive but we could see he really wasn't moving."
The Sarasota County deputies called an animal trapper to remove the alligator after they arrived at the home. The incident was recorded and posted on the official Twitter page of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office in 'Tweet from the Beat' – which happens to be a series of live social media updates that its officers post while on patrol.
At around midnight, the deputies posted a picture of the alligator swimming in the pool, with the caption: "Just when you think your #TweetFromTheBeat is off to a slow start.."
The Sherriff's office also followed it up with further photos and a video on Facebook, where the gator can be seen getting pulled out from the swimming pool, and they also quipped in the post with hashtags like "#NeveraDullMoment and #OnlyinFlorida."
Just no. #TweetFromTheBeat #LESM #AllInADaysWork pic.twitter.com/ktSI6Zdwmg
— SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) March 31, 2018
Homeowner Carver believes that low water levels in the lagoons could have played a role in the alligator ending up in her pool. Earlier this week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission had also issued a warning to its residents, to be more aware as rising temperatures could cause gators to become a more common sighting.