A woman in a South Daytona neighborhood got a surprise when she peeked over her neighbor's fence in Volusia County Thursday night.
The two pet alligators are being kept in a small, backyard pen at the home on Lambright Road. The house is very close to the South Daytona Christian Church, which runs a preschool, and South Daytona Elementary School.
Rick Brown from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said he spoke to the animals' owners, who are out of state.
FWC said they will wait until the owners return before proceeding with the matter.
Brown said the animals appear to be in good health, are properly caged and pose no threat to neighbors.
If they were deemed at risk, wildlife officers would go in and remove the gators immediately.
The homeowner told wildlife officers the reptiles have been human-raised since birth.
An FWC officer said while you can get a permit to keep exotic animals, such as alligators, South Daytona ordinances do not allow them.
As for how someone could keep a pair of alligators virtually hidden in plain sight for six years or so, as this person has done, Brown says it's not difficult. “Alligators aren't like barking dogs or chickens in a coop. They don't make a lot of noise. It's perfectly conceivable to possess this kind of species and, if you don't talk with your neighbors about it, then no one would perceive them to be there.”
Horace Burch, who lives next door to the alligators had no clue what lived just beyond the cages of rabbits in the backyard next door. It didn't really bother him, except for the size of the pen the alligators are in. "I mean, I'm an animal-lover but I believe in people that do have animals of any kind, they should take care of them.”
The gator's owner is in Kentucky right now, where Rick Brown says he had a permit to have exotic animals. Brown says the man told him he wasn't aware of the Florida rules regarding exotics though. The homeowner is expected to be back in South Daytona the first part of next week.