Residents in the Arrowhead Reserve community of Immokalee are used to seeing alligators, but one recent sighting has them feeling uneasy. A massive gator was caught on video crossing Lake Trafford Road on Friday night, blocking traffic.
Miguel Ruiz and his girlfriend were driving home when they saw the large reptile. At first, Ruiz thought it was a tree.
“I was telling Erika, we’re coming down the road, and I’m looking in front of me towards my left side,” Ruiz said. “I’m over here thinking like a tree fell or something. And I’m telling her, ‘Hey, what is that? What’s that big thing right there?’”
Ruiz says he’s seen gators in the area before, but never one this big.
Earlier in the week, a video showed what appears to be the same gator in a backyard during the day. Other residents say they are worried about kids and pets with gators roaming nearby.
Ruiz asked his girlfriend to share the footage with the community to alert neighbors. “It’s a big concern, especially for people with kids and animals,” Ruiz said.
A trapper was called to remove the gator, but it seems like they aren't going anywhere.
“A nuisance? I probably wouldn’t say that because we are in their natural habitat,” Ruiz said. “But if we can work around them and avoid conflict, it would be better for everyone.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises residents to call the FWC’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline if they encounter a gator in their neighborhood.