Video: Fla. Deputies Underestimate Feisty 8-Foot Backyard Alligator
What to Know
- Manatee County sheriff’s deputies responded to a backyard alligator call and initially estimated the reptile was only 4 to 5 feet long.
- The alligator hissed and turned toward deputies as they tried to guide it to a nearby pond, leading them to call a wildlife trapper instead.
- A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission trapper secured and relocated the alligator, which measured 8 feet, 4 inches long.
“Go on,” a deputy can be heard telling the alligator in the video.
Instead, the alligator hissed, turned toward the deputy and sent him scrambling backward.
“Stay clear of it,” a deputy said.
After another noise from the alligator, the deputies reconsidered their approach.
“Yeah, this is a job for a trapper,” one said.
Deputies called a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to the home, who secured the alligator with a catch pole before dragging it from the backyard, video shows.
With the alligator secured, the trapper pulled out a tape measure and settled the question of its size.
“8-foot, 4,” the trapper announced.
The deputies immediately recognized just how much they had underestimated their backyard visitor.
“We were way off,” one said.
The sheriff’s office said the 8-foot, 4-inch alligator was relocated.
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