Gator Comes Knocking on Florida Homeowner's Door

Hearing a commotion outside the front door in the middle of the night can leave anyone disconcerted.

But, what happens when the source of the ruckus happens to be a very much uninvited guest who just won’t go away?

A Lutz family had to answer that question early Thursday morning with a 9 ½-foot gator casually strolled up to their Heritage Harbor door. The family called the sheriff’s office. Given the gator’s size, a trapper was called out.

Capt. Phil Walters ultimately found himself rousted out of bed around 1:30 a.m.

“You’d think these older trick-or-treaters would know it (Halloween) was over almost a week ago,” Walters joked when asked about the creature.

Walters is a trapper who answers calls about nuisance alligators. He said this particular critter posed a bit of a challenge to remove. Not only was it a rather large bull gator, it also happened to stroll up to a porch with quite a few items on it.

Before attempting to wrangle the beast, Walters said he spoke with the homeowner on the phone and explained the gator could do some damage during capture. The man was inside the safety of his home, looking out at the critter, while talking on the phone to Walters, who was outdoors.

Wanting to make sure the creature received an escort off his property, the man granted his permission to proceed, Walters said. That’s all it took for Walters to go to work. First, he proceeded to get the gator to turn around, facing away from the door. Then he managed to throw a few lariats on him before safely securing the creature.

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The gator was ultimately removed from the property and killed for use as food and leather.

Walters of Hillsborough County-based Gator Guides has been a professional alligator hunter for about 30 years. In addition to taking occasional nuisance alligator calls, he also runs a guide service for those interested in alligator hunting. The former salesman says he prefers mucking through swamps to life in the corporate world and enjoys helping people connect with nature. He’s also served as a trapper for about four years.

While the Lutz family got quite a start courtesy of the roaming alligator, it’s not entirely uncommon for Floridians to have such close encounters with the creatures when temperatures are high.

“All reptiles are more active in the warmer months,” Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse told Patch in an earlier interview. “That’s just the cold-blooded creatures’ (way). Their metabolism increases and they do become active.”

That increase in activity can lead to an increase in encounters with humans as gators take advantage of warm weather to stretch their legs and see if the grass is greener on the other side of the pond.

While November generally brings cooler temperatures that might lead to a reduction in reptile activity, this hasn’t been an average November for Tampa Bay. The region witnessed a record-breaking high of 92 degrees on Wednesday with the forecast calling for unseasonably warm conditions for at least a few more days.

Human and alligator encounters normally end without incident, as was the case Thursday morning. That is not always so, however. In late October, a 62-year-old man was killed by an alligator while swimming in the waters of Blue Springs State park.

Between 1948 and 2013, there were 22 fatalities recorded, according to FWC records. During that period, a total of 122 minor bites and 235 major bites were also logged. The last fatal alligator attack on record prior to this October’s death occurred in 2007.

To help residents dealing with unruly alligators, the state has set up its own hotline to accept calls about nuisance critters. That number is 1-866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

In 2013 alone, the state fielded 15,036 nuisance alligator calls, which resulted in the removal of 6,605 creatures.

Photo courtesy of Capt. Phil Walters