Before sunrise, a Florida homeowner received a jarring Ring notification: a massive alligator was paddling around the backyard pool.<\/p>\n
Police in Venice said the reptile measured more than 9 feet and got into the area by breaking through the home’s screened pool enclosure, calling it “forced entry.”<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
According to WFLA<\/a>, the alert came just before 6 a.m., when a homeowner in Venice’s Toscana Isles community discovered a 9-foot-4-inch alligator in the pool.<\/p>\n Police said the gator had “forced entry,” breaking through the home’s screened pool enclosure before ending up in the water. A trapper from Florida’s nuisance-alligator program later removed the animal.<\/p>\n Neighborhoods with retention ponds, canals, manicured lakes, and backyard pools often overlap with areas where alligators naturally roam.<\/p>\n As development pushes deeper into wetlands and other natural habitats, animals face fewer barriers and more chances to wander into human-dominated areas.<\/p>\n Why does it matter?<\/p>\n A gator in a pool can pose a direct safety risk to people, pets, and anyone who might step outside before dawn without realizing a large wild animal is nearby.<\/p>\n The incident also shows how modern home features can unintentionally attract wildlife. In Florida, bodies of water around subdivisions can resemble natural habitat to alligators, and a contained backyard pool may look like just another place to cool off or explore.<\/p>\n When communities expand into ecosystems that have long supported native species, the burden often falls on residents, first responders, and wildlife officials to manage the consequences.<\/p>\n Human-altered landscapes are increasingly shaping where wild animals end up.<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Florida’s response in cases like this runs through the SNAP nuisance-alligator system. Under that program, licensed trappers remove alligators considered a threat to people, pets, or property.<\/p>\n Authorities are also treating the encounter as a reminder for residents to stay alert, especially in areas near water.<\/p>\n Basic precautions include keeping pets away from pond edges, avoiding dawn or dusk activity near water, and never feeding alligators, which can make them lose their natural fear of people.<\/p>\n Florida residents who spot a nuisance alligator can report it by calling the state’s SNAP line at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before sunrise, a Florida homeowner received a jarring Ring notification: a massive alligator was paddling around the backyard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7863,28,30,29,96141,1554],"class_list":["post-347020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-alligator","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-forced-entry","tag-pool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}