Hotel Guests Receive Strange Welcome To Clearwater

CLEARWATER, FL — It wasn't the kind of welcome Clearwater visitors expected when they checked into the Super 8 hotel on U.S. 19.

When they opened their doors Thursday morning, guests in Rooms 114 and 115 were greeted by a baby alligator who had wandered from a nearby lake to apparently seek refuge in an air-conditioned hotel room.

Clearwater Police Officer Kyle Bingham was called to the scene and quickly took matters in hand, literally. He picked up the 2-foot gator and deposited him back in the lake.

Police spokesman Rob Shaw couldn't resist commenting on the strange welcome the hotel guests received: "It's a jungle out there sometimes."