ODESSA, Fla. — A large gator gave a Pasco County family a scare Wednesday morning, showing up right at their doorstep.
- Neighbor sent resident photo of gator near house doorstep
- Resident: Gator "scary", "aggressive"
- FWC: Gator sightings at this time of the year rare
It’s a text Annette Sajecki never expected: A picture her neighbor sent of an unwelcome guest at the front door.
“I was very nervous," Sajecki explained. "I was just at my front door. I just had pulled out of the driveway and I didn’t see it. It was scary."
She had just left to drop her daughter off at school and had walked right past the alligator, which was hiding in the hedges. By the time her neighbor saw it, it was right at the front door.
Sajecki's husband started filming video when a state trapper arrived to remove it.
“It was scary, very aggressive. It hissed,” Sajecki said.
Annette says she was planning to come back home to do some yard work, right in the very spot where the gator was hiding. If it weren’t for her neighbor’s text, she says may have walked right into it.
Even the trapper was blown away by the gator's size, saying it looked to be over seven feet long. Though the gator fought, he eventually was able to remove it.
Sajecki has no idea why it showed up. They have no pets and say they’ve never fed an alligator before.
According to FWC, gator sightings are more rare this time of the year because mating season usually ends in July.