COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Collier County sheriff's deputies are dealing with a rash of gator encounters.
First, deputies had an early morning wrestling match Thursday with Florida's state reptile.
The sheriff's office said they got a call around 6:30 a.m. for a massive gator hanging out in a residential area of Golden Gate. Deputies said kids were waiting at a nearby bus stop.
The sheriff's office said Jerrod Carver from the agricultural unit and Cpl. Edward Costello assisted FWC trapper Ray Simonsen in wrangling the 9-foot male gator.
No one was injured during the wrestling match, the sheriff's office said.
"Just another day in paradise, huh?" the sheriff's office posted on Facebook.
Photos show the trapper had already caught two other gators that day. The sheriff's office said they had to reorganize the bed of the truck to make room for the bigger gator.
Then Thursday afternoon, sheriff's Cpl. Justin Morgan captured an 8-foot gator in the yard of an Immokalee home.
Morgan estimated it took him around 20 minutes to capture the gator, which he then placed in the backseat of his patrol vehicle until wildlife officers could remove it.
Big gator in Collier County
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