An alligator recently strolled into a Florida woman’s home after making its way through a screen door that was latched shut with a magnet.
On March 28, the homeowner, Mary Hollenback of Venice, found the nearly 8-foot-long reptile after she heard a banging sound at her door, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.
“I thought it was somebody else who didn’t live here trying to get into the wrong house,” she recalled.
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Hollenback said she rose from her living room couch to investigate and found the large alligator walking through her house.
The alligator came in through the screen door of Hollenback’s Venice, Florida, home before crawling into her kitchen. (Mary Hollenback)
At that moment, Hollenback had two initial thoughts, she said.
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“One is, ‘Oh my gosh, I have an alligator in my house,’ and number two is, ‘Oh my gosh, I have an alligator in my house; How am I going to get rid of him?’,” she told Fox 13, adding that she was “shaking” in fear.
Hollenback picked up the phone and dialed 911.
Hollenback said the alligator ended up stopping in her kitchen after it walked through the hallway. (Mary Hollenback)
“By that point, I was shaking so badly, I didn’t know who else to call,” Hollenback said.
Hollenback said the alligator stopped in her kitchen before officers arrived.
Deputies from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) were able to remove the alligator, which measured 7 feet, 11 inches, from Hollenback’s home.
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“They [the officers] were so calm, so cool, so professional,” Hollenback said. “They just acted like, ‘Alligator in the house … no big deal. Case closed,’”
Deputies from the sheriff’s office arrived with the FWC to safely get the reptile out of Hollenback’s kitchen. (Mary Hollenback)
Hollenback said she believes the alligator came from the pond across the street before it entered her house.
“Nobody saw him, and it’s very surprising,” she said, referring to her neighbors.
“By that point, I was shaking so badly, I didn’t know who else to call.”
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She added, “Only in Florida are you going to get an alligator in the house.”
The FWC has multiple safety tools and tips on its website for those who find themselves in the presence of an alligator.
Officers were able to remove the reptile after the homeowner, Hollenback, dialed 911 to request their presence at the scene. (Mary Hollenback)
“Alligators less than 4 feet in length are not large enough to be dangerous to people or pets, unless handled,” says the FWC’s website.
“You should never handle an alligator, even a small one, because alligator bites can result in serious infection, and it’s illegal.”
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It also says, “If there’s an alligator under 4 feet in your swimming pool, on your porch or in a similar situation, call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).”
Fox News Digital reached out to the FWC and Hollenback for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Sydney Borchers contributed to this report.
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