2 Gators Removed In Tampa As Mating Season Starts In FL: Watch

TAMPA, FL — Just over a week into Florida’s gator mating season, two of the large reptiles recently gave people a scare in the Tampa area.

Homeowners reported what they thought was a human intruder on March 29, but it “turned out to be a Florida-style uninvited guest,” Tampa police wrote in a social media post.

Officers responded to the home just after 3 a.m. and found the gator “had let itself in for a solo swim” in the pool.

With the assistance of a nuisance alligator trapper, the gator was safely removed. (Watch a video of the gator being wrangled from the pool below.)

Then, on Tuesday morning, a gator was spotted near the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office in Tampa.

Deputies responded to reports of the gator “just chillin’, layin’ in the grass” outside the office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post, adding, “The soggy weather must have brought out the wildlife.”

A licensed trapper responded and safely removed the gator.

Alligator mating season begins in early April, first with courtship, followed by mating in May and June, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

By late June or early July, female gators build a mound nest of soil, vegetation or debris, and deposit an average of 32 to 46 eggs in it.

Incubation takes 63 to 68 days, and hatching takes place from mid-August into early September.

Watch a police bodyworn camera video of the gator wrangled from the Tampa pool:

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