May 3 (UPI) — An alligator found sleeping under a Florida resident’s parked car was escorted back to a pond by a sheriff’s deputy wielding a broom.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said three deputies were summoned to a Tampa neighborhood on a report of an alligator sleeping underneath a parked car.
One of the responders, Deputy Wheaton, had relocated a 10-foot alligator in April, so she took point on the operation to get the gator back where it belonged.
Wheaton used a broom to try to guide the reptile in the right direction, and the alligator ended up latching its jaws onto the broom, allowing the deputy to give it a “joy-ride” back to the water.
“Again, we want to remind you it’s that time of year! It’s mating season and in general, gators become more visible and active during the spring and summer,” the sheriff’s office said.