‘Like the Kool-Aid Man:’ A Florida gator broke through patio screen, then took a dip
In Florida, it’s wise to look before you leap.
A woman in Enterprise, about a half hour north of Orlando, woke up to the fright of her life Wednesday morning.
According to a Facebook post from her husband, Carlos Tosi, Lynn Tosi walked out onto her patio and saw a giant alligator in the pool at around 8:30 a.m.
The real thing. Not one of those gator floats.
“Florida Living,” said the homeowner’s post with a picture of the beast just chilling under the water.
The petrified woman told local station WFTV that the gator broke the screen and took a dip.
READ MORE: A python ate an alligator in Florida, viral video shows
“He busted right through there, kinda like the Kool-Aid Man,” Lynn Tosi told the outlet, referencing the old commercials featuring the soft-drink mascot famous for bursting through walls to help quench your thirst.
READ MORE: Watch an alligator break through a fence in Florida
A trapper with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission came out to the house and euthanized the beast, which ended up measuring snout to tail 11 feet, 6 inches long and weighing in at more than 400 pounds. Gators can grow up to 14 feet in the wild.
The unwanted visitor was deemed a “nuisance alligator” by the FWC because it was at least four feet in length and posed “a threat to people, pets or property.”
Why so many gator sightings in residential communities of late?
Experts believe the warm weather has them out and about looking for food — and mates.
Anyone with concerns should call the FWC’s nuisance alligator hot line at 866-392-4286.
