VENICE, Fla. — A Florida woman thought someone was trying to get into the wrong house when she heard a rattling sound coming from her front screen door.
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That “someone” turned out to be an alligator about 8 feet long.
“So, I'm sitting on the couch. It's late afternoon. I'm watching TV right now and I hear the front door rattle and the screen door rattle,” Hollenbach told the TV station. “And I thought maybe someone who doesn't live here is trying to get into the house. That happens a lot, so I thought maybe I was in the wrong house. So I stood up and By the time I got near the front door, the crocodile was already inside.”
Venice resident Mary Hollenbach was relaxing in her home in the city's Grand Palm neighborhood on March 28 when she heard a noise, WFLA-TV reported.
Hollenback said two thoughts immediately came to mind.
“The first one was, 'Oh my god, there's an alligator in the house.' The second one was, 'Oh my god, there's an alligator in the house. How are we going to get him out?'” Hollenback told WTVT.
They should have called 911 immediately, but Hollenbach said there was a problem. Her cell phone was on the counter, very close to the large reptile, WFLA reports.
“All I could think about was calling 911, but my cell phone was on the edge of the counter,” Hollenbach told the TV station. “So I had to walk a little closer to him, grab my cell phone, go out on the balcony and call 911.”
While Hollenbach called for help, the 7-foot-11-inch alligator moved from the hallway and was resting on a rug in the galley-style kitchen.
Two Sarasota County sheriff's deputies and three Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission employees entered Hollenback's home to remove the wayward alligator, WFLA reported.
“I have to say they were great. They were very calm, very cool, very professional,” Hollenback told WTVT. They just acted like, “There's an alligator in the house…no big deal.'' The incident has been resolved. ”
So how did the crocodile get into your home? The door had a magnet and the crocodile was able to push it open. The door closed behind the reptile, preventing it from retreating, the TV station said.
Hollenback said she was relieved the alligator was safely removed and no one was injured.
“I was relieved. I was upset for a while, but it seemed like all the neighbors came out and talked about it, and it's been a really good conversation since then,” Hollenback told WFLA. “So this story just keeps growing and growing. My 15 minutes of fame.”
