Woman surprised by alligator outside home

Some residents in the Summerlake subdivision of Winter Garden got an uninvited guest on Thursday. 

"It was sitting right here," explained Christina Broeker.

She said a four-foot alligator showed up on her front yard.

"I was panicked really.  Thank God for vigilant neighbors.  They let me know!  I have two young 19-month-old twins and a small pet, so I was really concerned about my children and my pet."

Broeker said her home wasn't the only place where the reptile roamed. 

"After about 20 minutes of watching it, it just picked up and started moving towards my neighbors' houses, so I had to ring their doorbells and let them know to stay inside, and wait for FWC to come and make sure they took care of it."

She's relieved that trappers with the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission got the gator.

"It took them a minute to take care of it and reassured me they were going to take them to another pond."

Broeker called the trappers, concerned for the safety of her babies, but she said she does realize that we have encroached on the alligator's territory.

"Unfortunately for the gators, there's a lot of building out here, and they have nowhere to go, so they're moving into our neighborhood lakes," she said, adding that it's important to be vigilant and understand that.

No one was hurt during the gator encounter.