This browser does not support the Video element.
Pinellas County man finds gator relaxing on lanai
Photojournalist Beth Weber reports
EAST LAKE, Fla. - Tim Kelly had quite the surprise Friday morning when he heard growling while getting his morning cup of coffee. He turned around to see a massive alligator -- between 7 and 9 feet -- on the lanai of his Pinellas County home.
What was even more surprising was that the alligator was stuck under an end table.
Kelly says he’s not sure how the gator got into that predicament.
Tim Kelly woke up to an alligator on his lanai Friday morning
"He must have went through it and it got stuck on him, and he wasn’t very happy. I got to tell you, when he was right there and he was stuck in that, I was like, 'Wow, now what am I going to do?'" Kelly recalled.
He immediately called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
This browser does not support the Video element.
Large alligator trapped near school in Lakeland
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff's Office encountered a large alligator that was sunning on a sidewalk in Lakeland Thursday morning.
MORE: Animal officer rescues dog found clinging to log in alligator-filled swamp
While they were waiting for FWC to arrive, the gator got loose from the table and decided to go for a swim in Kelly’s pool.
"We were just sitting here having coffee just watching him swim around in the pool. He would come up here and rest on the steps, then sink to the bottom again," he remembered.
East Lake resident Tim Kelly wasn't expecting this visitor Friday morning
FWC officers showed up and were able to get the alligator out of the pool safely. They are planning on relocating the gator because of its size.
Kelly says it was a morning he won’t forget.
"It was unbelievable. Good start to a Friday morning, good weekend starter, got us up, that’s for sure," he added.
PHOTOS: ‘Frozen’ alligators spotted sticking noses through ice to survive in Oklahoma
This browser does not support the Video element.
Paramedic nearly lost arm to alligator
A Central Florida paramedic had his arm nearly ripped off by an alligator last summer