A Florida Fish and Wildlife trapper received a scary reminder that alligators don't necessarily need their teeth to cause pain and do damage. (Image source: Instagram video screenshot)
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A Florida Fish and Wildlife trapper received a scary reminder that alligators don't necessarily need their teeth to cause pain and do damage.
Residents in an Ocoee neighborhood spotted the 8-foot reptile roaming more or less house-to-house before wildlife officials arrived last week to remove it.
Image source: WKMG-TV video screenshot
"It literally crossed the street from our house," neighbor Jim Jarrells told WKMG-TV.
"It walked for 20 steps, and then it just kind of sat down and walked for 20 steps, and it sat down," Walter Day, another neighbor, added to the station. "It was kind of odd to watch."
"It was a pretty good size," Jarrells noted to WKMG. "It was pretty fat."
The gator took a rest on one home's doorstep — and that resident almost opened her door to what would have been a most unwelcome guest, the station said.
"We were like, 'No, go back in!' So she closed the door," Day told WKMG.
Finally the creature was captured.
Image source: WKMG-TV video screenshot
But after it was tied up, and the wildlife trapper — along with two police officers — hoisted it into the back of a pickup, the gator put on a lightning-fast display of power for all the humans.
Image source: Instagram video screenshot
"The gator flipped back and head-butted the guy," Day told the station. "It knocked him on the ground. At that point, it was kind of free and whacked police officers with its tail."
Image source: Instagram video screenshot
In fact, the alligator's wicked head-butt (or jaw-butt, if you will) left the wildlife trapper knocked out cold, WKMG said. And it was all captured on cellphone video.
Experts said two things bring alligators out from the water: when they're looking for a mate, and when they're looking for food, WKMG repoted.
Image source: Instagram video screenshot
"We don't really have any bodies of water here in the neighborhood, so to see it come from some distance, it was pretty surprising," Jarrells told the station.
The man who shot the video said the gator was eventually released into a nearby lake, WKRG-TV reported.
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