Police Officers in Tampa had a rough start to their morning yesterday when they had to wrangle an alligator. An over-9-foot alligator, to be precise.

Mr. Gator was just wandering around the neighborhood at approximately 1AM when the officers first encountered him. Video shows the officers cornering the alligator as it snaps at them. Two of the officers then sit on him from behind, pushing his mouth closed. Another officer comes in to duct tape his mouth shut. The officers reportedly stayed like this to keep him restrained until the certified gator trapper arrived, and it took four men to load the gator into the car.

The alligator trapper, Phil Walters, was surprised the officers had taken any action with the gator at all. He told a local news station that the Tampa Police Department typically doesn't get "down and dirty" when it comes to trapping gators. As to where the alligator may have originated from, Walters said he could have journeyed from a nearby river that connects to the road via a creek.

It seems this isn't a rare issue during mating season. Walters warned, "This time of year for whatever reason they start walking around, looking for love, looking for new places to eat – they’re hungry. This is the time of year to be really aware of your surroundings. Look where you put your feet and hands. Look before you jump in the pool. I take them out of pools this time of year. Look before you walk out the door. If you have a doggy door, look before you step out of bed."

Walters said he's already captured 10 other gators in the past week. He also said it's important for citizens to have situational awareness about potential rogue gators, since hitting one with a car would completely total the vehicle. Which makes sense, given that the creature is basically a dinosaur.

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Lily is a Zoomer college dropout who somehow landed a writing gig here at LwC.com. In her spare time, she enjoys going for runs, touching grass, and occasionally tweeting tweets for fellow tweeters.

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