Noisy gator crawling around New Tampa neighborhood trapped
Raw video: Florida family calls cops after 7-foot alligator banging on their gate wakes them up.
Homeowners in a Tampa neighborhood were surprised to find out the banging they kept hearing early Friday morning was the work of a 7-foot alligator roaming around their property.
Residents inside a home on Yellow Clover Road called police after hearing a banging on their gate for about 45 minutes.
When officers arrived, they found a 7-foot female alligator roaming around the home. It ducked under the family’s car before going back to the gate.
After a few close calls and a lot of snarling from the reptile, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation trapper was able to wrangle her into the bed of his truck.
Robb Upgrove, the trapper, told FOX13 it appeared the gator was trying to bust through the gate to go into the family’s backyard – possibly searching for a body of water or even a date.
He said mating season typically begins in May, but the warm temperatures may have some of the reptiles confused.
“It’s starting to warm up,” Upgrove said. “So that triggers them to move into mating season.”
He said he expects alligator nuisance calls to increase as the season begins.
The captured alligator will be taken to a wildlife sanctuary.
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