Terrifying moment a huge 12 foot alligator LUNGS on workers trying to remove it from near Florida
- A 10-foot-long alligator was trapped by animal control agents after a Florida resident stumbled upon the critter while exercising in the early hours of Thursday
- A call was first made to Homestead Police before professional trappers, Pesky Critters Wildlife Control, were dispatched to deal with the reptile
- After quite a fight, they successfully captured and dragged the gator away
Professional wildlife hunters managed to tangle a 10-foot-long alligator as it snarled ferociously at them in the early hours of Thursday in Florida.
They were notified after a concerned resident came across the gator near the Homestead Sports Complex in Homestead, who then contacted local police. They in turn contacted Pesky Critters Wildlife Control.
In a video posted online by the company, owner Todd Hardwick and his trappers can be seen fighting the angry alligator.
The reptile can be seen snapping its jaws and lunging at the trappers, even executing a death throw – a spinning maneuver usually used to tear prey apart.
Images taken from various angles show the alligator with its deadly jaws wide open.
A 10-foot-long alligator was trapped by animal control agents after a Florida resident stumbled upon the critter while exercising in the early hours of Thursday
A call was first made to Homestead Police before professional trappers, Pesky Critters Wildlife Control, were dispatched to deal with the reptile
The trappers used a variety of tools, including belts and metal stakes
The trappers try to get a noose around him to close his mouth, but the alligator keeps his jaws apart even as he hisses at the men.
In the end, they manage to get a rope around the gator before it quickly rolls over the grass and then the road towards them.
At one point, the gator remains silent before suddenly lunging without any warning – almost like an angry dog.
“Hold on tight so he can’t lash out at me so hard,” Hardwick tells his colleagues.
In the end, they manage to tape the gator’s mouth shut before police officers help lift the massive creature into the back of the catcher’s pickup truck.
The early morning drama was captured by cameras from several angles
One worker used a pole while another tried to use a strap to tension the creature
The alligator was finally trapped around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
While being injured or killed by alligators is extremely rare in Florida, alligators are defined as a nuisance when they are over four feet tall and pose a threat to people, pets, or property.
According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report on the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP, the state has 113 contracted nuisance alligator trappers who respond to 10,000 calls annually for their services.
Once caught, the alligators become the property of the trapper to sell for their skin or meat, or to be sold alive to be raised in a zoo or farm.
Healthy alligator populations exist in all 67 Florida counties, but so-called “troublesome alligators” are not being moved into the wild because their reintroduction can lead to territorial fighting and deaths among other alligators, the FWC said.
There are healthy alligator populations in all 67 Florida counties.
Trappers had to keep some distance while trying to catch the reptile
The animal remained calm and quiet before suddenly lunging
It was a complex catch for the team of Pesky Critter Wildlife Control trappers
In the end, they manage to tape the gator’s mouth shut before police officers help lift the massive creature into the back of the catcher’s pickup truck.
After quite a fight, they successfully captured the gator and dragged it away with a pickup truck