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A man in Hillsborough County had a surprise visitor for his 13-year wedding anniversary.
Lutz resident Metts Bahadir heard a loud noise at his front door Thursday around 1:30 a.m., and his first thought was that a bicycle or car had hit the door. When he looked out his window, he saw a 10-and-a-half-foot-long alligator on his doorstep.
“I was completely shocked,” Bahadir said. “His head was huge and mouth was wide open. I screamed (to my wife) to get the phone and call 911.”
The gator arrived just minutes after Bahadir's wife came back from taking their pet Chihuahua for a walk.
“(The gator) was attacking the door and scratching it,” Bahadir said. “His tail hit my flowers pots and knocked them all out.”
Bahadir said he and other residents have spotted alligators in their golf-course neighborhood, but never one this massive. Bahadir said it has raised concern for the well-being of his wife and two children, ages 5 and 8.
“[Gators] were always seen in the pond but never on the road or in front of doors,” Bahadir said. “If this happened in the afternoon, lots of kids or my sons could have been attacked.”
Tampa police sent a trapper to contain the gator. No one was injured during the incident.
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