8-Foot Alligator Busts Through Florida Woman's Screen Door

A Florida woman got the scare of her life when an 8-foot-long alligator burst through her screen door and settled into her home. Mary Hollenback told WFLA she was watching television Sunday afternoon (April 7) in her Venice home when she suddenly heard her front door rattle.

She wasn't expecting a full-grown alligator inside her house.

“I thought somebody who didn’t live here was trying to come in, thinking that they were probably in the wrong house because that happens frequently. So, by the time I got up and went near the front door, the gator was already inside,” Hollenback recounted.

The homeowner believes the gator broke the magnetic clasp on the door and pushed it open. She managed to snap photos of the scaly intruder lying down in her kitchen.

"I probably got no further, no closer to the front door than you are right now," she told reporters. "Just close enough to look and see that it wasn’t a person trying to get in; it was an alligator."

Calling the cops was also a challenge since her phone was sitting on the kitchen counter, inches away from the alligator . Hollenback luckily grabbed her phone, went on the lanai, and dialed 911.

Two Sarasota County deputies and three Florida Fish and Wildlife officers responded to her home and removed the reptile . The gator measured 7 feet 11 inches.

Despite the scare, Hollenback said she got relief from her neighbors talking about the shocking incident. Her photos of the alligator, which was shared on Facebook, also went viral.

“I was relieved. I was kind of shaken for a while, but you know, it’s like all my neighbors came out and were all talking about it, and it’s just become a really good story since then," she shared.