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Florida trapper wrangles nearly 9-foot gator from pool with bare hands

Trapper said rescue 'smooth and as easy as it gets'

(Credit: Paul Bedard of Gator Boys Alligator Rescue)

Florida has swimming pools and alligators. Sometimes the two come together and a trapper must get involved.

That was the case Wednesday in Parkland, Florida, when Paul Bedard, of Gator Boys Alligator Rescue, got a call about a large alligator found in a swimming pool. 

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What made this capture unique was that Bedard got in the pool with the 8-foot, 8-inch gator and trapped it with his bare hands. He then carried the alligator out of the pool and away from the home as if it was a baby. 

In his Instagram post, Bedard said this type of call is fun “because the gator can’t go anywhere and the water’s almost always crystal clear. So all I have to do is jump in the water, play around with him until he's tired and I can either hold his mouth shut and put a snare on it and tape it.”

The trapper said the monster gator was “mellow” in that he didn’t want anything to do with Bedard.

Bedard said “I simply made a frontal catch, put a snare on his mouth and taped him up.”

He makes it sound so easy. 

(Credit: Paul Bedard of Gator Boys Alligator Rescue)

Once the alligator's mouth was taped up, Bedard got the animal to release some energy before getting it out of the pool. He said this is done to keep the alligator from doing a death roll and smashing into the side of the concrete. 

“It was basically as smooth and easy as it gets,” Bedard said in his post. “Thank you Lord, much appreciated.”

We remind you to not try this at home. This trapper is a professional and knows what he is doing. 

 

View this post on Instagram

Got an e-gator call this morning about an 8 to 9 foot alligator in a swimming pool up in Parkland. The gator had walked through the screen and into the pool. I haven't had a good-sized gator in a swimming pool in probably a year, so I was kind of looking forward to this when I got the call. These are actually fun because the gator can't go anywhere and the water's almost always crystal clear. So all I have to do is jump in the water play around with him until he's tired and I can either hold his mouth shut and put a snare on it and tape it, or if he super energetic I can get him tired enough where I can just pick him up without the tape and carry him out in the yard and then tape him up once I get there. This guy was super mellow didn't really give me a hard time at all, I couldn't get him to spin on me he really wanted nothing to do with me. I simply made a frontal catch put a snare on his mouth and taped him up. Then finally got him to expend some energy.... I didn't want to pull him out of the water until he was tired, because he'll usually go into a death roll and smash himself up on the concrete or, if he's not taped, bite the concrete or something so it's always better to make him expend that energy in the water where is not going to get banged up. He ended up being 8 feet 8 in, and didn't really give me a hassle at all, it was basically as smooth and easy as it ever gets. Thank you Lord, much appreciated. #gatorboysalligatorrescue #gatorboys #rescue #animal #alligator #gators #gator #paulbedard #evergladesholidaypark #everglades #crocodile #croc #greatful #nuisancealligator

A post shared by Paul Bedard (@gatorboysalligatorrescue) on