It was a morning intruder one Clearwater, Florida family wasn’t expecting. Clearwater Police responded to an 11-foot alligator that broke through the kitchen window of a home.
According to Clearwater Police, at approximately 3:32 a.m. a homeowner called 9-1-1 to report a large alligator in her kitchen. Police believe the alligator broke through a window of the home on Eagles Landing Circle West. Authorities say a trapper wrangled the alligator out of the home at approximately 4:49 a.m. through the same window the alligator broke through.
While no one was hurt, alligator experts are reminding the public that intrusions like Friday morning’s are extremely rare and not how alligators search for food.
“This is not something you see every day,” said Amy Kight, executive director of the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary.
The facility is a wildlife hospital and education retreat that’s home to the American alligator. “Either the alligator was spooked by something and was just running in fear or this might be the first time that the alligator acted like a bird. Birds will see their reflection in windows and they’ll try to chase it out of the area and fight with it. So I almost wonder if their was a tint on the window that made the alligator start to mess with it,” she said.
Kight says alligators are more active this time of year. Mating season occurs during the spring and summer months and alligators are seeking new food sources because they’re exerting more energy. She says the Floridians more likely to see an alligator are people living close to fresh water. But she also says there’s a human element.
“Alligators are going to be in areas that are more populated because there are more people. It just kind of works out that way,” she said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates there are over a million alligators and counting in the state of Florida.
