Alligator missing a foot found in Sarasota garage
Alligator missing a foot found in Sarasota, Florida garage was captured and released into a nearby pond.
Mice, roaches and spiders: these are a few of the critters that a homeowner will occasionally come across. But a much bigger animal wandered into one Floridian’s home on Wednesday — an alligator.
The reptile, which had been spotted in the Sarasota neighborhood over the past few weeks, wandered into the home's garage and the homeowner unknowingly shut the door and left while the gator was still inside, FOX13 reported.
A neighbor then called the homeowner, who is currently unnamed, warning that the gator may be trapped inside.
"He walked around the garage for a minute or two and then scurried under the golf cart," one neighbor told the news station.
That’s when Deputy Robbie Martin with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene.
Martin, who also works on the office’s SWAT team, “wrangled the alligator out of the garage” and relocated it to a nearby pond, FOX13 reported. “[Martin] does amazing things in this community,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.
Footage of the incident shows the deputy leading the gator to a body of water behind the home.
But the gator could come back, police warned. Residents in the area have been told to be on the lookout for the creature, which is missing its front foot, FOX13 reported.
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