9-Foot Gator Captured On Family's Coral Springs Doorstep
CORAL SPRINGS (CBSMiami) – A Coral Springs couple got a big surprise early Thursday morning when they heard a loud banging noise outside their front door. Luann and Jorge Alonso thought it was a raccoon. Boy, were they wrong.
It was a 9-foot alligator.
"As soon as I turned the light on I saw that big gator right in front of the door," said Jorge. "The tail was facing the front window and his body was against the door and we couldn't get out."
Luann Alonso said she was petrified but then relieved when she realized she didn't take her small dog Gucci out for his normal middle of the night walk.
"Thank god he didn't go out last night because I always take him around 2 or 3 but thank god that didn't have to happen last night because I would have had a heart attack," said Luann.
The Alonso's called police and waited for help to arrive to their neighborhood in the 12400 block of SW 1st Street. The neighborhood borders a canal and the Sawgrass Expressway.
"I thought it wasn't real. I couldn't believe it. I've lived in this house for over 18 years. I've seen them on the bank in the back but never in the front yard and definitely not against my front window," said Luann.
Trapper Kevin Garvey showed up, captured the 9-foot gator, and hauled it away.
Nuisance gators, such as this one, are not returned to the wild. According to the FWC, the removal of nuisance alligators does not have an impact on Florida's healthy and stable alligator population.
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