Alligators in your Backyard

Or singular alligator, anyway. It attacked a dog. Florida man shoots alligator as it attacked dog in backyard: 'My heart just dropped'

Alligators in your backyard? That's Florida.

Deltona, Florida is about 20 miles north of Orlando.

A Deltona homeowner who asked not to be identified had to think fast when a gator started attacking his chocolate lab. The homeowner says he let his dog, Winston outside. He noticed the pup sniffing around, so he came out to see what Winston was interested in.

He shot the gator 4 times in the skull. Winston, the lab, is okay.

There is a damaged part of the fence that is only 4 feet high not 6 feet, and the game warden surmised that is where the gator climbed into the back yard.

Click thru for photos and more details. Does this count as Peak Florida?

This story is a reminder that some predators are in fact 4 legged, and if you need the means of self-defense because of an encounter with a predator, you need it right now, not in 5 minutes when you run inside to retrieve it.

In other alligator news, here's a video of a gator breaking the bars of an aluminum fence and moving through. (The alligator pictured above is unrelated to either story.)