A family who went on vacation in South Florida was surprised to see a live alligator floating in their Airbnb's pool.
Dave Jacobs went to Miami with his family to attend a wedding. The Georgia locals said they first saw the alligator in the lake outside of their vacation rental on May 16, according to Fox News. The gator caught the attention of their dog, Rascal, as it was barking the whole day and running around the screened-in pool deck.
Jacobs thought it was a "pretty cute" view. "The next day, it just showed up in the pool," Jacobs told the Miami New Times. The alligator was resting on top of an alligator-design pool floater.
His 14-year-old daughter described the sight as "so meta," which in the urban dictionary may mean something beyond logical explanation.
Just when you think your #TweetFromTheBeat is off to a slow start... you get a call for a #Gator in a swimming pool #Florida #OnlyInSarasota #SOS #SendHelp pic.twitter.com/0wCofgyTyG — SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) March 31, 2018
Family finds alligator relaxing in their Airbnb in Florida
Welcome to Florida.https://t.co/PvqkWaDxEQ — Christina Nicholson (@ChristinaAllDay) May 25, 2020
Meanwhile, Mrs. Jacobs called the Airbnb's owner who eventually called an alligator wrangler who later lured the reptile out of the pool. While it was not an unusual sight in Florida, "it was unusual" for Jacobs.
Jacobs told the Miami New Times that while there are also alligators in Georgia, but these reptiles live in not so populated areas like some swamps where no one lives. "But in Florida, they're just in your neighborhoods," Jason added.
Alligators seem to like pools
The Jacobs' experience is not the first time an alligator was wrangled out of a swimming pool in Florida. On the morning of April 19, 2018, homeowner Suanne Wesselhoff was shocked to see a 9-foot alligator basking under the sun in her pool.
Wesselhoff said the creature might have sneaked through a ripped part of the screened-in backyard patio. She just learned about the intruder when her dogs began barking.
"They kept sort of barking and kind of acting a little strange... I looked over at the pool and I saw... a 9-foot alligator just lounging in my pool," Wesselhoff told WFTS.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office posted a video online the police assisting the alligator wrangler who fished the huge reptile out of the water.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, when a nuisance alligator trapper removes an alligator, the reptile becomes the property of the trapper.
In Wesselhoff's case, the alligator was processed for its hide and meat, which is the primary source of compensation for their services. Meanwhile, there are few instances that the nuisance alligator was sold alive to an alligator farm, animal exhibit, or zoo.
Similarly, Rob Carver got his most surprising pre-April Fools as he thought someone intruded his backyard pool as he heard a noise on the night of March 31. However, when he looked out from his bedroom window, he found an 11-foot alligator.
"Oh my God, that's a large alligator," Carver told FOX13. He then called trappers who used ropes to pull the gator out of the pool and was eventually taken away later that night.
Meanwhile, aside from the pool, people can expect to encounter an alligator in a storm sewer, the end of an airport runway, and the local golf course when in Florida.
Read also: Asteroid That Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Hit the Earth at the Worst Angle Possible For All Living Creatures, Scientists Say
Just when you think your #TweetFromTheBeat is off to a slow start... you get a call for a #Gator in a swimming pool #Florida #OnlyInSarasota #SOS #SendHelp pic.twitter.com/0wCofgyTyG — SarasotaSheriff (@SarasotaSheriff) March 31, 2018
