11-foot alligator found swimming in pool at Florida home

Publish date: 2024-08-10

Explore More

A Florida woman got the shock of her life when she discovered a terrifying intruder enjoying a morning swim in her pool this week — a mammoth 11-foot alligator.

Lynn Tosi, of Stone Island, recounted how she went outside to let her dog out Wednesday morning, only to spot a hulking reptile cooling off in her swimming pool after tearing through an enclosure.

“It was definitely an unexpected surprise,” the homeowner told the station ClickOrlando.

For people living in Stone Island, alligators are a common sight, and they know to keep their distance from local lakes teeming with the beasts.

But Tosi said she did not expect to find one of the fearsome creatures on her property, which is located more than two blocks away from the nearest body of water.

For people living in Stone Island, alligators are a common sight. ClickOrlando
Tosi said she did not expect to find an alligator on her property, which is located more than two blocks away from the nearest body of water. ClickOrlando

What’s more, Tosi’s pool is surrounded by a tall mesh patio screen — but the towering barrier proved no match for the 11-and-a-half-foot monster.

“[it] busted right through there, kind of like the Kool-Aid man,” Tosi said of the gator’s” incursion. “I have no idea how long he was here before I noticed him in the morning.”

Tosi and her husband called officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who yanked the reptile out of the pool and hauled it away. Because it was deemed to be a nuisance alligator, it was subsequently euthanized.

Tosi recounted how she went outside to let her dog out, only to spot an alligator in her swimming pool after tearing through an enclosure. ClickOrlando

This is the third alligator to be trapped and put down in Volusia County over the past week.

On Saturday, a man in Daytona Beach heard what he thought was knocking at the front door and opened to find an alligator, which immediately attacked and bit him.

The next day, a man in Deltona shot another alligator that barreled through a backyard fence and had the head of the homeowner’s dog in its maw.

Wildlife officials say alligators are becoming more aggressive this time of the year, which marks the beginning of their mating season.

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlf3R7j2xmamhfZn5uss6oq2aZnKG2qK3TqKlmnp%2Bqu6V50rCgpqWZo7Rutc1mp6innGKutXnFpaaroZSWeqm7zJ5m