The Cuban communicator and activist Eliécer Ávila showed a crocodile that, according to his account, lives beneath the dock of his house in Marathon, in the Florida Keys, and he estimated at a glance that the reptile measures between one and a half and two meters.
«Look at the crocodile I have under the dock. I don't know if you can see it clearly there. I have it living down here under the dock,» Ávila commented in a video posted on Facebook, while he focused on the animal from the dock of his home.
The Cuban insisted on the dimensions that, in his estimation, the reptile reaches: «I estimate it to be one and a half, two meters. The dock is down there.»
Ávila continued to show the unexpected neighbor with evident calm: "Here we have the croc, here we have the croc. With its tail and everything, it measures a couple of meters," he noted.
He even joked about the possibility of turning the animal into food. "I think it's good to eat. I'm going to check with ChatGPT, because we caught it with the rabirubia," he said.
The video ends with another shot of the reptile and a reference to the location: "Look, here we are, gentlemen, in our little house, and look who we have here. Grab your crocodile here, Cayo Marathon," he expressed.
The presence of these animals is not unusual in that area of Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC for short) explains that the American crocodile inhabits coastal areas of southern Florida and the Keys, primarily in brackish or salt waters, as well as in ponds, bays, and mangrove streams.
The FWC describes the American crocodile as a shy and reserved species and notes that the population in Florida is classified as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The agency also has a hotline for residents concerned about the presence of an individual in their environment.
Florida law prohibits the intentional killing, injuring, possessing, or capturing of a crocodile without authorization. A violation of this nature is considered a third-degree felony, which can be punished with up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Ávila has been living in Florida since 2017 with his wife, Rachel Vázquez. Both became U.S. citizens in January 2023.
The activist became known in Cuba in 2008, when as a student at the University of Computer Sciences (UCI), he posed several questions to Ricardo Alarcón, who was then the President of the National Assembly.
He also founded the political movement Somos+ in 2013, an organization whose presidency he left years later, although he remained connected to political activism.
His relationship with animals had already made headlines in December 2025, when he found three abandoned dogs on a road and decided to take them to his home to prevent them from being run over, while asking his followers for advice on what to do with them.
The encounters of Cuban residents with large reptiles have also resulted in several recent scenes in Florida. In June, a Cuban captured footage of a crocodile in a canal just as he was about to enter the water.
Another incident occurred in July, when a Cuban alerted two young people who were about to enter the water after spotting a crocodile moving through the area.
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