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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsA Giant Alligator Breaks Into A Florida Home, And The Photos Are Nightmarish
The homeowner went to investigate a crash at 3:30 a.m. and found the 11-foot reptile lying on her kitchen floor.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alligator-florida-home-kitchen_n_5cf17dace4b0a1997b6a427f
Well, this isnt what you want to wake up to first thing in the middle of the night.
Mary Wischhusen, a 77-year-old woman from Clearwater, Florida, woke up around 3:30 a.m. Friday to use the bathroom when she heard a loud crash, the Tampa Bay Times reported. When she went to investigate, she found an aggressive 11-foot alligator on her kitchen floor.
All I had was a vision of a huge head, Wischhusen told the newspaper. A big head looking at me saying, Hey.
Wischhusen went to her bedroom and called 911, but, strangely enough, the authorities were already aware. Patricia Picor, who delivers the Tampa Bay Times to Wischhusens home saw the massive alligator on the street. She thinks that her cars headlights startled the animal because it immediately tried to scurry away and squeeze into a nearby street drain. Unfortunately, it was too big to fit, so the frustrated gator headed toward Wischhusens front door and began to thrash around. Picor called the authorities.
Link to tweet
Link to tweet
And finally local news video:
dhol82
(9,353 posts)hlthe2b
(102,378 posts)handmade34
(22,758 posts)or bears in Vermont... I have a tedious ritual every night to make sure the bears don't damage anything or kill my chickens/bees...
I have a small self-serve stand out front (produce, honey, handcrafted things, what have you...) I bring everything in at night but there must be some scent... night before last the bears tore doors off a cabinet and wreaked havoc
Harker
(14,039 posts)but I'll take my chances with bears.
I once interrupted (from inside the cabin in CO) a bear who was tearing his way into our kitchen from the outside, and we had young hoodlum bears on our deck a few times.
shraby
(21,946 posts)electric fence. Seems to ward off the bears.
Google videos about the electric fences they set up. Youtube has some.
They also use the fences for camping in tents, leaving plenty of room inside the fence.
handmade34
(22,758 posts)that keeps them from my bees and chickens (every evening I check to make sure it's working) I bring hummingbird feeders in every night (can't put bird feeders out for other birds but I love my hummingbirds)
I pad lock the garage and shed and double check to make sure my back door is shut tight... no more compost at home (Vermont now requires compost bins at transfer stations)
unfortunately the fence around tents seems to make sense these days... I have a tent platform in my back woods for guests but nobody ever wants to take me up on the offer to use it...
magicarpet
(14,175 posts)... nice tastes that gator has.
hlthe2b
(102,378 posts)Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)Glad no one, including the humans, was hurt.
Oh, now. I don't like coming across alligators in the wrong place either. Doesn't mean I want them harmed. Or the humans. As I am a human who occasionally runs across a gator or two.
hlthe2b
(102,378 posts)share and share alike, I guess. They are apparently pretty good at policing leash-laws for pets.
(big time pet lover here. No animals harmed in my choice of ironic comment... )
Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)Always check.
You wouldn't be surprised at the people who have to be told not to bring their animals on the trails here.
Leash or no leash - especially for small dogs - gators will go for an easy meal.
hlthe2b
(102,378 posts)Neither avoiding an 11-foot gator or trying to outrun a cougar will be in my future, I sincerely hope.
Solly Mack
(90,787 posts)Could actually happen to me.
Around 2 million alligators here and I live near swamps and rivers.
dhol82
(9,353 posts)red tail hawks.
No more time on the deck once they moved into the neighborhood.
hlthe2b
(102,378 posts)for the wild rabbits to get to when the hawks, great horned owls, or the occasional coyote come through.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,494 posts)Well, he did pour the wine..........
That is one lucky lady.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)The swamps and the bayous demand respect and if you live down there you know it. Gators are really the least of your worries. When I used to canoe the bayous the snakes were what I worried about, and on land it's the damned fire ants! That's one big boy though.