When the phrase “Florida Man” starts trending, you know some kind of wild, inane, head-scratching story is circulating from the Sunshine State. Today’s Florida Man story is definitely wild, definitely head-scratching, but much more incredible than inane.
A man casually decked out in Adidas slides and socks was filmed catching an alligator in his front yard using nothing but a recycling bin and his indomitable Florida Man will. It’s something you truly have to see to believe (and then watch a dozen or so times just because).
Seriously.
So many questions from us non-Floridians as we watch this clip:
– Is this a regular occurrence in Florida? Gators just hanging out in your yard? More than 7,000 “nuisance” alligators were spotted in Florida in 2018 alone.
– What led up to this chain of events? How did this man decide to try to capture the alligator with a recycling bin? (Or, is it a trash can? If this man’s trash can is that clean, I’m impressed.)
– Florida literally has a Nuisance Alligator Program hotline. Why did our heroic Florida Man not put in the call?
– Why was he the lone ranger behind the bin? Why is everyone else just standing back and filming? (I don’t know what they’re supposed to do, but seems like someone should be standing by Florida Man with a baseball bat or something.)
– Why did the guy who said, “I got you,” not step in and help when Florida Man was struggling to get the bin with the gator half hanging out to stand upright? What does he think “I got you” means?
– How did he know to flip the lid down when he did? I thought for sure that was the wrong move, but nope.
– Most importantly, why didn’t Florida Man put on some sturdier shoes before trying to stuff a big honking reptile into a trash receptacle?
So. Many. Questions.
Florida news station WESH 2 obtained the full video, which shows the man pushing the gator in the bin across the street and down an embankment to a lake, where he tipped the bin to release the alligator near the water. Again, all by himself. So at least the “What happens next?” question has been answered.
Kudos, Florida Man. You saved your family, saved the alligator and gave us all a riveting piece of entertainment all in one fell swoop.
