Florida family wakes up to find huge alligator in backyard swimming pool

A Florida family had the surprise of a lifetime after waking up on Monday morning.

Senta Evans and her family, who live in Palm Beach Gardens, were taken aback when they stepped out into their backyard and found a 9-foot-long alligator resting at the bottom of their pool, WBAL-TV reported.

Senta, who woke up just after sunrise to let the family's two dogs outside, was the first to notice the massive reptile. She alerted her husband Mike, who expected to see a 2-foot-long or 3-foot-long gator.

"We live on the edge of the Everglades, so I know anything is possible here," Senta told the station.

Mike, however, was stunned to find a creature three to four times the size he had expected. The two called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which sent a trapper to pull the gator out.

"The trapper came out here with some gear to get a 6-foot alligator out," Mike told the station. "He said, 'That thing's 9 feet,' and he went back and got bigger gear. It was kind of nuts."

The trapper managed to hook the gator and lead it out from the pool's shallow end. The entire process took about 20 minutes.

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Mike and Senta said the cold-blooded animal may have snuck under the chain link fence that encloses their yard. The incident attracted the Evans' neighbors, who dropped by the house to see the gator themselves.

"I showed them some pictures, and next thing I know, there's a caravan following me here to watch this thing happen, kids and everything," Mike said. "It was pretty funny."

There are roughly 1.25 million alligators living in Florida, according to conservation organization Defenders of Wildlife. Though considered dangerous predators, they rarely attack humans.