DAVIE, Fla. – A family in Davie had a surprise guest during their breakfast on Saturday morning when they discovered a large alligator in their backyard.
The Mermelsteins were getting their day started as they glanced out the window and saw the gigantic reptile lounging on their property on Southwest 78th Drive in the Orange Woods Estates neighborhood.
“We were just eating breakfast, and we saw this big head that looked like a gator, and then it just walked by the window. I thought it was just my imagination,” Trent Mermelstein said.
When they made eye contact with the seven to eight-foot gator, they quickly called Davie police.
“We’re assuming it came from the pond up there, but our gate was open because it is broken,” Tina Mermelstein said.
Authorities kept a close eye on the reptile before two professional trappers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived on the scene.
The two trappers used a rope and a pole to tie up that gator and wrapped tape around its mouth before eventually pulling it out and loading it onto a truck.
The family told Local 10 that there isn’t a body of water in their backyard, but there is a pond in the front of the neighborhood.
FWC officials told Local 10 that the gator is going to be taken to an alligator farm either in West Palm Beach or in Naples.