Watch: US Air Force removes alligator from Florida base
An American air force base in Florida has had to tackle an unusual intruder – a huge alligator that sought shade beneath a transport aircraft.
The 10ft-long reptile was spotted on the Tarmac at MacDill Air Force Base, which is located on the coast, on the outskirts of Tampa.
US Air Force personnel sounded the alarm and called in officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
‘Our newest toothy airman’
A video published on the base’s Facebook page shows the wildlife officers wrangling the big creature as they tried to capture it.
They were eventually successful and the animal was relocated to a nearby river.
It is thought the alligator strayed into the airbase after being intimidated by a large rival called Elvis that lives in the area.
“Our newest toothy airman has been relocated to a more suitable environment off base. Special thanks to FWC for the assist. They think Elvis pushed this guy away from home,” officers from the airbase wrote on Facebook.
It is not the first time that an alligator has wandered into the air force base.
In 2018, a US Marine took video footage of a huge alligator, estimated to be 12ft long.
“That is a monster. An absolute monster,” Gunnery Sergeant Jake Sherrock said in the video. “This is like a freaking dinosaur, man.”
Florida has a large population of alligators and there are attacks on humans from time to time.
In September, a 41-year-old woman was killed by a 13ft-long alligator near the city of Largo. The reptile was spotted with the remains of the woman in its jaws.
In February last year, an 85-year-old woman was killed by an alligator as she walked her dog in the city of Fort Pierce.
In 2016, a two-year-old boy was killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World.
Odds of an injury one in three million
Despite those incidents, Florida authorities say that the odds of being seriously injured in an unprovoked alligator attack are one in three million.
People living in alligator territory are advised to swim only during daylight hours, to supervise children closely when they are playing around water and to dispose of fish scraps in rubbish bins rather than tossing them into the water.
If a person is attacked by an alligator, wildlife officials say that the best thing to do is to fight back, “providing as much noise and resistance as possible. Hitting or kicking the alligator or poking it in its eyes may cause it to release its grip.”
