Florida man wrestles 8-foot alligator from swimming pool

On Tuesday, a Florida man wrestled an 8-foot, 8-inch alligator from a swimming pool in Parkland, Florida.

Gator Boys‘ Paul Bedard posted an eye-popping photograph of him lifting the giant reptile above his head like a prize after the safe morning capture.

Bedard said he got a call in the morning that the gator walked through the pool screen and into the pool. He said he had not had a good-sized gator in a swimming pool in about a year or so, so he “was kind of looking forward to this when [he] got the call.”

Bedard said it is fun to capture gators in swimming pools because the water is clear and the animal does not have anywhere to hide, so he can play around with it until the gator is tired enough to capture and remove.

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Got an e-gator call this morning about an 8 to 9 foot alligator in a swimming pool up in Parkland. The gator had walked through the screen and into the pool. I haven’t had a good-sized gator in a swimming pool in probably a year, so I was kind of looking forward to this when I got the call. These are actually fun because the gator can’t go anywhere and the water’s almost always crystal clear. So all I have to do is jump in the water play around with him until he’s tired and I can either hold his mouth shut and put a snare on it and tape it, or if he super energetic I can get him tired enough where I can just pick him up without the tape and carry him out in the yard and then tape him up once I get there. This guy was super mellow didn’t really give me a hard time at all, I couldn’t get him to spin on me he really wanted nothing to do with me. I simply made a frontal catch put a snare on his mouth and taped him up. Then finally got him to expend some energy…. I didn’t want to pull him out of the water until he was tired, because he’ll usually go into a death roll and smash himself up on the concrete or, if he’s not taped, bite the concrete or something so it’s always better to make him expend that energy in the water where is not going to get banged up. He ended up being 8 feet 8 in, and didn’t really give me a hassle at all, it was basically as smooth and easy as it ever gets. Thank you Lord, much appreciated. #gatorboysalligatorrescue #gatorboys #rescue #animal #alligator #gators #gator #paulbedard #evergladesholidaypark #everglades #crocodile #croc #greatful #nuisancealligator

A post shared by Paul Bedard (@gatorboysalligatorrescue) on Oct 15, 2019 at 6:14pm PDT