The Cuban meteorologist Rubén Capote shared this week a video showing a huge American alligator lying on the cobblestone path right in front of the main door of a house in Sarasota, Florida, sparking an avalanche of comments among his followers.
The clip was recorded at night last Tuesday by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and provided to Capote for sharing on social media.
The large reptile, with dark coloration and slightly open jaws, appears at the entrance of the house, surrounded by ornamental plants, as if it were the owner of the place.
Capote, head of the Telemundo 49 Meteorology Department in the city of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, took the opportunity to issue a warning to his followers.
"The alligator mating season is here, and our scaly neighbors are showing up everywhere… even at your front door! Remember to keep your distance and let them be. They are looking for a mate… not to move in with you," he wrote.
The alligator mating season in Florida kicks off in April and lasts until June, during which males become more active and territorial, moving out of their usual habitat and increasing encounters with residents in urban and suburban areas.
Florida is home to approximately 1.3 million American alligators distributed across its 67 counties, making it one of the states with the highest density of these reptiles in the world, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Sarasota, on the southwest coast of the state, is one of the areas with the highest presence of these animals, and encounters with residents are common every spring.
It is not the first time something like this has happened in the area: in April 2024, a huge alligator made its way directly into the kitchen of a house in Venice, also in Sarasota County, and had to be removed by five officials.
The video generated hundreds of comments, many of them from Cubans with a very unique sense of humor regarding the situation.
In Cuba: "Today we eat, bring me the cauldron," one of them declared.
Filed under: