Trending

Knock, knock: Florida family finds alligator on patio

PLANT CITY, Fla. — A Florida family had an unwelcome visitor knocking at the back patio of their home Tuesday – a 9-foot alligator.

>> Read more trending news

Mark Pomfret said he heard a thumping noise on the sliding glass door of their Plant City home at about 2:30 a.m. EDT, WFLA reported. He did not see anything, but his wife, Pam Pomfret, looked out of a window and saw the reptile.

“It was just a bang. I was thinking it was probably his tail that was moving backwards and forward hitting the door,” Mark Pomfret told WFLA. “It sounded similar to someone banging on the door fairly loud but definitely unexpected at 2:30 in the morning.”

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the home is near a small retention pond, WFTS reported.

When deputies arrived, they told the couple that a trapper was needed, WTSP reported. Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived and safely removed the alligator, according to the television station.

It is mating season for alligators in Florida, and wildlife officials said the reptiles tend to be more active and visible this time of year, according to the FWC. Alligators are generally most active between dusk and dawn, WFLA reported.