HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Residents in a South Florida neighborhood are breathing a little easier after workers trapped a crocodile that got loose.
A 7-foot crocodile was pulled from a small Hollywood lake Tuesday morning.
The rugged reptile was carried off by trappers while residents from the Harbor Islands community look on.
"I'm relieved," resident Dina Volovitz said. "They did a great job. I am super proud of them."
It wasn't easy. The trappers spent most of the morning trying to catch the ornery reptile.
They would snare him, only to see him break free.
At one point, the massive animal tossed a pole from a trapper's hands like a child.
"I think it was incredible how they did it or just they just like single-handedly caught a six-foot alligator," Issac Sutton, who watched the crocodile being removed, said. "It seems crazy to me."
Eventually, the trappers did pull this massive beast from the water, dragging him up the bank, finally able to tape his mouth shut before loading him into their truck.
The crocodile sighting started Sunday, likely entering the lake from the nearby Intracoastal Waterway.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said crocodile sightings have increased and warned residents to be on the lookout.
The trappers moved the crocodile to a different location.
The American crocodile is protected as a threatened species by the Federal Endangered Species Act.
