Alligator shows up at front door of Florida home
LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) – A Lakeland homeowner had an unwanted visitor Tuesday night when an alligator showed up at her front door.
Jeanne Smith got a call from her husband saying an alligator was in the driveway.
“He said don’t open the garage, there’s an alligator in the driveway,” Smith said.
After snapping some photos, Smith went through the yard to get into her home.
“I took a wide path around the outside of the yard to get into the dogs. I walked very slowly, no sudden movements,” Smith said.
Once she made it inside, her dogs started barking. Within seconds the alligator slinked between a bush and made it’s way to her front doorstep.
“Here’s this alligator with its head sitting on my front doorstep,” Smith said. “It curled up and stayed there, laying his snout literally right there up against the door ledge.”
Her dogs were inches away, on the other side of the door watching.
“I have this picture of them looking out of the glass at this dark mass,” Smith said.
A trapper showed up and wrangled the 6-foot-3-inch alligator in front a crowd of neighbors before taking it away.
“I think the most dangerous alligator is one like that, 6 to 7 feet, because they’re still real quick. They can turn on a dime,” neighbor Dan Sherman said.
“Now no matter what, we look out the side window and on the front porch before we open the door to take the dogs out. That’s an absolute,” Smith said.