Florida Woman Says She Was Watching TV on Sofa When Gregarious Gator Waltzed Inside, Made Himself at Home

Quick. Check your kitchen. Is there an alligator in there?

Presumably not, though it’s safe to say the woman who’s in the middle of her self-described “15 minutes of fame” likely thought the same before realizing a gator had not only made his way inside, but had also calmly made himself at home in the kitchen.

Per regional outlet WFLA, Mary Hollenback was watching TV at her home in the Venice area of Florida on Sunday when she heard a noise at her screen door. Within seconds, Hollenback said, she got up to check out the sound for herself, only to realize that a goddamn gator was the culprit.

“Basically, he just pushed on that and it just came open,” Hollenback said, per WPBF 25. “From the time I first heard the door rattle to the time I came around the corner couldn’t’ have been more than 10 or 15 seconds. He was already inside completely.”

Hollenback, of course, quickly thought to dial 911 but was required to get a little closer to the gator than she would have preferred thanks to her phone also being in the kitchen at the time. Ultimately, officials from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived at the scene to haul off the gator, who’s estimated to have been just under eight feet in length.

It's no secret that gators are a common sight in the Sunshine State. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission points out that they're found in every county of the state, though serious injuries are not a frequent occurrence. The state has even established a Nuisance Alligator Hotline to field gator-related inquiries.

For no real reason other than to entertain myself, here’s a list of series I’d like to imagine this particular gator was hoping he could binge alongside his inadvertently welcoming host: Mindhunter, Beef, Atlanta, Hacks, Twin Peaks, and the list goes on and on because I would also like to imagine that any gator bold enough to engage in intense relaxation in a stranger's kitchen would also be well-versed in matters of pop culture.