SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Perhaps it’s not entirely unusual to see a gator in a backyard pool here in Florida. But, what makes this incident especially odd is the fact that it’s not the first time a gator picked this particular pool to take a dip.
Maybe it’s the water temperature? Maybe it’s the ambiance? Whatever it is, seems alligators approve of this area in Venice.
Memorial Day 2017 will be one Don Grosse won’t soon forget.
“Well, Mrs. Kendall called me. We’ve been neighbors for over 25 years,” he said.VIDEO: Alligator found in bottom of Sarasota County pool
It all started with an early morning pool cleaning appointment and then a call from Don’s out-of-town neighbor.
“See, the pool people must have been here around eight, then they called her and she called me.”
That pool cleaner got quite a shock when she found an inquisitive reptile cooling off in the bottom of the pool.
The Sarasota Sheriff’s Office was called in to lasso the gator – attracting the attention of neighbors like Jim Thompson.
“It’s the neatest thing I ever saw!” he exclaimed.
As they all watched, the seven and half foot gator gave them quite a show with a series of death rolls, hissing and fighting back with all its might.
While it may have been just another day on the job for Sarasota County deputies, it’s certainly a story Jim is sharing with friends and family back home.
“We’re new to the area and we don’t have gators in Tennessee!”
Meanwhile, he’s hoping his personal pool remains a gator-free zone.
“We have a wall behind ours, so I don’t think a gator can get in there,” he said.
Oddly enough, back in 1998, Don Grosse got a similar call about a gator in that same pool. Back then, he says he simply opened the doors of the screened-in birdcage and the gator made its own way out. However, Monday’s gator was captured and relocated to a safe area.
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