Gators in the News

Not the University of Florida sports team, but the reptiles. It is springtime, and the gators are on the move.

First we have a story about a quick-thinking wife. Man, 84, Was Gardening When He Was Attacked by an Alligator. This Is How His Wife Saved His Life

Joe Roeser was spreading mulch near a pond that was close to their house in Sun City when an alligator reached for him from the water, NBC Palm Springs, ABC News and WJCL 22 News reported. His wife, Marian Roeser, then struck the reptile with a tomato stake until her husband was free, according to the outlets.

"I just grabbed the closest thing I could find — a tomato stake — and started attacking the alligator's eyes and head," Marian said, according to a police report cited by ABC News. "I knew I had to do whatever it took to save my husband."

He is in the hospital with leg and arm wounds, but is expected to recover.

This is not quite a Florida Man story. Jacksonville man captures alligator from patio using trash can

The woman was letting her dog outside her Jacksonville home when she noticed a seven- to eight-foot-long alligator hiding behind a garbage bin.

Local animal trapper Mike Dragich came to the rescue, cancelling his Easter dinner plans and improvising by using a trash can to catch the reptile.

Not just some rando with a trash can, but someone who knew what he was doing. They relocated the alligator.

And lastly, some video. ‘Only in Florida’: Alligator Rings Doorbell Before Trying to Enter Home

I first saw this video on social media earlier in the week.

An American home’s doorbell camera footage shows two alligators trying to enter the property. One of the reptilian visitors is seen attempting to, and seemingly succeeding in, ringing the bell, before chaotically failing to open the door, while the other hangs back in relative inactivity.

Remember, The alligator has the right of way.