Quick Take
- Alligator pool invasions surge at one particular time of year, though the trigger is not what most people assume.
- Florida has countless natural wetlands, so why do gators keep choosing backyard pools specifically? See where it appeared →
- The homeowners eyeballed the gator's size before experts arrived, but their guess turned out to be nowhere close to reality. See the real measurement →
Alligators finding a temporary refuge in people’s backyard pools is a common phenomenon in Florida. Such stories, however, were usually confined to anecdotes and police blotters before the advent of accessible home security cameras. Recently, a Venice, Florida family got quite the surprise when their Ring camera caught a massive 9-foot alligator in their pool.
The intrusion of gators onto private property is an aspect of life in Florida that most people can’t appreciate until they move there. The state has so many natural wetlands adjoining residential developments that such situations are bound to happen, especially with relatively accessible swimming pools. Alligator encounters like this one are also more common in the late spring and early summer when females look for spots to build nests and lay eggs. On a hot summer day, a swimming pool is just the type of spot a gator will seek out to help regulate its body temperature.
A Surprise Visitor
Early in the morning on Wednesday, July 15th, homeowners Sarah and Giancarlo received a visitor that they didn’t quite expect. According to WTSP-TV, Giancarlo was taking a shower around 6:30 a.m. when his wife came in and told him about their guest. Their Ring camera showed a massive alligator swimming in their backyard pool. According to the footage, the gator broke through the pool area’s protective screening around 5:45 a.m. before relaxing in the cool pool water.
As Giancarlo said about the turn of events, “[Sarah] came to me and said, ‘Hey, we have a problem. Get out of the shower.'” After looking at the footage of the swimming alligator, the couple estimated it to be between six and seven feet long.
Help Arrives
The alligator that emergency personnel removed from the couple’s swimming pool turned out to be over nine feet long.
©YouTube/CBSMiami – Original
After assessing the situation, Giancarlo and Sarah called the authorities. Not long after, the Venice Police Department arrived on the scene. They were accompanied by a professional trapper dispatched by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program.
Two local landscapers assisted the emergency responders in safely subduing and trapping the alligator before it was removed from the property. To the couple’s surprise, the alligator turned out to be a whopping 9 feet 4 inches long.
Regarding this situation and others like it, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommends people swim only in designated areas and never approach or try to feed a wild alligator. As for the Venice Police Department, it said in a Facebook post: “While this gator was definitely trying to make a splash, remember to give these wild neighbors the space they deserve.”
