Mary Hollenback of Venice, Florida told USA TODAY that she thought it was a neighbor accidentally coming in her house when the screen door rattled on March 28.
"So I come around the corner expecting to tell somebody they were in the wrong place," she said in an interview. "And, lo and behold, there's an alligator at my front door!"
Hollenback said she was shaking so badly at the intruder, all she could think to do was call 911.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed in a statement shared with USA TODAY that it sent a nuisance alligator trapper to the private residence on March 28.
Hollenback said her wooden floors are slippery and the reptile had trouble moving, but somehow it ended up stuck in the kitchen.
"He was just sort of creeping his way forward...and wound up stuck in my kitchen between the island and the refrigerator," Hollenback said. "He was very clearly upset."
She said she lives in a neighborhood with several ponds, and he might have wandered in from the pond across the street from her house.
The FWC said the gator was 7 feet, 11 inches long, and was transferred to an alligator farm. Video from the rescue shows it took four officials to get the gator into the bed of the truck.
Alligator mating season started in April and will last through June. During this time, male alligators get more aggressive and some kick weaker males out of their turf.
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