This man used a garbage can to successfully trap a gator in Florida. Fish and wildlife authorities say to leave the trapping to them

CNN, WESH

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

It’s the kind of thing you can only expect to see in Florida.

A man took matters into his own hands, literally, when an alligator inched its way to his neighbor’s front yard on Tuesday. Without hesitation, Eugene Bozzi grabbed a garbage can and tried to lure it inside.

“Somebody’s gotta step up and do something, we all got to look out for each other right?” he told CNN affiliate WESH 2. “I was frightened when I had it in it, because it was so powerful. And I didn’t expect that, it was pushing out, whipping its tail around.”

Bozzi, who is originally from Philadelphia, has only been in Orange County, 14 miles east of Orlando, Florida, for a year, according to WESH, and said his army training kicked in and pushed him to think quickly on his feet.

After Bozzi was able to get the alligator inside the garbage can, he can be seen on video shutting the lid and wheeling the can down the embankment toward the retention pond. That’s when Bozzi dropped the can, pushed it over and the alligator crawled back into the water.

The widely seen video caught the attention of The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who tweeted some words of caution with a link to information about their statewide nuisance alligator program.

“Concerned about an alligator? Don’t grab a garbage can, call our hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286) & we can dispatch a REAL alligator trapper,” they wrote.

“I don’t know the procedures, so I did it my own way,” he told WESH.

“There are 1.3 million alligators in Florida living in all 67 counties, inhabiting all wild areas of the state that can support them,” according to the FWC.

Denise Sparks, the neighbor whose yard the 6-foot alligator crawled into, said she didn’t even know it was there until she heard the noises from the encounter.

In general, the FWC says a nuisance alligator is anything that is at least 4 feet in length and if it is believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.

“The removal of nuisance alligators does not have a significant impact on our state’s alligator population,” they said.

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