FORT MYERS, Fla. (WBBH) – A Florida couple had to deal with getting rid of an unwelcome visitor when a 7-foot alligator made itself at home in their kitchen.
Paul Quinn will never forget what happened to him Sunday morning at his home in Gateway, Florida. Instead of doing his usual routine of checking his email, he found a nearly 7-foot alligator in the kitchen area.
“I’m like, ‘Is that really an alligator…?‘” Paul Quinn said. “He saw me and started running, and I’m like, ‘Oh, crap, I got to deal with this today?’”
Paul Quinn’s family wasn’t home at the time. He called 911 and waited 50 minutes for officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to arrive.
While waiting, he kept his distance but started taking pictures.
“It’s one of those things you don’t think that it will happen to you,” Paul Quinn said. “They always tell you to be careful, be mindful of the alligators. This is why.”
The Quinns say they usually leave their doors open to get some extra breeze inside. The alligator ripped a hole in the screen and left its mark by biting a chair.
“So, the alligator grabbed the chair by the leg when the guy had him. He was trying to wrestle and get him out of here,” Paul Quinn said.
The alligator also left behind two of its teeth.
The Quinns say the encounter won’t keep them from enjoying what Florida has to offer.
“I don’t want to have a fear of an alligator just walking up our front walk into our foyer again. I can’t live like that. I live in Florida. I love living here. I’m not leaving,” said Paul’s wife, Mary Jo Quinn.
FWC officers transferred the alligator to an alligator farm.
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