GATEWAY, Fla. — Paul Quinn of Lee County will never forget what happened to him Sunday morning at his home in Southwest Florida.
"It's one of those things, you don't think that it will happen to you," said Paul Quinn.
WATCH THE STORY BELOW: Alligator invades Florida home
Instead of doing his usual routine of checking his email, he was being checked out by a nearly 7-foot gator inside his home.
"I'm like, 'Is that really an alligator in my living room or in the kitchen area here? He saw me, and he started running, and I'm like, 'Oh I got to deal with this today,'" Quinn said.
He was by himself at the time since his family wasn't home. He called 911 and waited 50 minutes for officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to arrive and remove the gator. He kept his distance and started taking pictures. The gator didn't want to leave.
The Quinns told WBBH-TV that they usually leave their door open to get some extra breeze inside, and the gator ripped a hole in the screen and caused a commotion.
The gator also left a mark on a chair and left the Quinns a souvenir: two of its teeth!
This won't stop the Quinns from moving and enjoying the other benefits of living in Florida.
"I don't want to have a fear of an alligator just walking up our front walk into our foyer again; I can't live like that; I live in Florida. I love living here, and I'm not leaving," Mary Jo Quinn said.
"They always tell you to be careful, be mindful of the alligators. This is why," Paul Quinn said.
FWC officers transferred the alligator to an alligator farm.
The FWC administers a Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) that addresses alligator threats in developed areas while conserving alligators in areas where they naturally occur.
SNAP uses contracted nuisance alligator trappers throughout the state to remove alligators believed to pose a threat to people, pets or property.
People with concerns about an alligator should call the FWC's toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286), and they will dispatch a contracted nuisance alligator trapper to resolve the situation.
The-CNN-Wire
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