Alligator breaks into kitchen, helps himself
By mbrooks on June 5, 2019
By Matthew Brooks
Seeing an alligator is practically a common experience in Florida.
Just another summer day.
Well, maybe not.
Clearwater, Florida is known for warm breezes, gulf coast views, and sunny days.
Alligator infestations in the home are not an average, everyday experience.
A 77-year-old homeowner in Clearwater woke up to find that an alligator had broken into her kitchen.
Yes, there are pictures.
See you later, alligator 🐊 A scaly 11-foot-long gator broke into a Clearwater home overnight through some low windows in their kitchen. Clearwater Police officers and a trapper responded to the scene to capture and remove the gator. There were no injuries. pic.twitter.com/jsOxRNfkEV
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) May 31, 2019
When Mary Wischhusen walked out of her bedroom and saw the gator, she turned around and went right back into her bedroom. She closed the door and called police.
Wischhusen didn’t say if she locked the door, too.
She told the Tampa Bay Times that she saw, “a big head looking at me saying, ‘Hey.'”
According to the Times, it took two trappers and ten police officers to get the beast out of her kitchen.
In the video below, the alligator is fighting against attempts by animal control to remove the beast from the kitchen. The red liquid on the floor, the Clearwater PD emphasizes, is wine, not blood.
We know you've been chomping at the bit for more visuals from today's alligator trespassing in Clearwater🐊 The male alligator was 10 to 11 feet in length. During the apprehension, the alligator knocked over several bottles of wine. The red liquid in the video is wine, not blood. pic.twitter.com/x6ktib6ajl
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) May 31, 2019
The answer to why the big reptile went into Wischhusen’s home comes from the woman her delivers her newspaper, Patricia Picora.
Picora has been delivering the paper to Wischhusen for about five years.
She says that the headlights of her car may have startled the gator. The gator tried to slip its way into a storm drain but the gator was too big.
“I think he was upset that he couldn’t get down the drain,” Picora told the Times.
Picora called 911 when she saw the frightened but fearsome animal rush toward Wischhusen’s front door.
Authorities told the Tampa Bay Times that the alligator was 11 feet long. An alligator of that size would likely weigh about 600 lbs.
