JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — A humongous alligator sauntered his way through an elementary school parking lot in Jacksonville on Monday.
Someone inside the school building captured a short video of the scaly predator after it sat down in a small puddle of water that had collected from the rain. News4Jax shared photos and videos from the incident.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue were called to the scene at St. Clair Evans Academy and had the animal removed from campus, according to the station. A man who appears to be an alligator trapper can be seen sitting on the large reptile.
Trappers work with the state to capture “nuisance alligators” – those that are longer than four feet and deemed a threat to people, pets or property. The trappers get to keep the gators that they capture.
In December 2022, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission revealed that more than 184,000 nuisance alligators have been captured and killed since 1997. Over half those gators were killed after they were captured, while others were sold to zoos and alligator farms.
