Huge Alligator Surprises Woman by Appearing in Swimming Pool

An enormous, 11-foot, 5 inch alligator was found taking a relaxing swim in a pool in a Florida resident's backyard.

The gator was found in the Volusia County property at around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, having burst through the screen porch surrounding the pool and clambered into the water.

"He busted right through there [the screen]... kinda like the Kool-Aid Man, you know," homeowner Lynn Tosi told local news WFTV9.

"I just kind of circled around, not knowing what I was going to do next: I sure wasn't going outside," she said.

American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) are found in all 67 counties of Florida, as well as parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Male alligators can grow to lengths of between 10 to 15 feet, and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. They have between 74 and 80 teeth in their mouth, which are replaced as they are worn down, going through up to 3,000 teeth across the alligator's whole lifetime.

The bite strength of alligators is thought to be one of the most powerful of any living animal, and has been measured at up to 2,000 pounds per square inch. Human bites are only around 120 pounds per square inch, for comparison.

Tosi told WFTV9 that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) came to her house and successfully removed the gator without anyone getting hurt.

The FWC has warned Florida residents to be aware, as it is approaching the time of year when alligators in Florida are at their most active, WFTV9 reports.

American alligators are most active—and most aggressive—during their mating season, which starts in early April and lasts until June.

Florida averages around seven unprovoked alligator attacks each year, with the state seeing 442 unprovoked bites between 1948 and and November 2021, 26 of these attacks ending up in a fatality.

Tosi's reptilian encounter is one of three across Volusia County in a five-day period. One man's dog was grabbed in Deltona by an alligator, which was subsequently shot by the dog's owner, and another man in Daytona Beach was bitten on the leg when he opened his front door to find an alligator on his porch. He was taken to hospital but only suffered minor injuries.

Tosi told WFTV9 that after her experience, she would advise Floridians to always check their swimming pools before taking the plunge just in case there is an unwelcome visitor lurking beneath the surface.

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