Gators and turtles found swimming in pools at man’s Florida home, cops say

A man accused of keeping gators in his backyard swimming pool said someone else put them there, Florida law enforcement said.

He’s now charged with two counts of illegal killing, possessing or capturing an alligator, taking an alligator without an alligator trapping license and taking or possessing soft shell turtles, according to Marion County court records.

McClatchy News reached out to his attorney Sept. 17 and did not immediately receive a response.

On Aug. 23, officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to a 42-year-old man’s home after receiving a tip that he was keeping alligators in his backyard, according to an arrest affidavit.

The resident greeted the FWC and said he didn’t know why they would be there, officers said. When they asked him how many alligators he had in his swimming pool, he said he didn’t have any, but his ex-girlfriend’s friend put two gators in his pool about three months ago, according to the affidavit.

The officers reported finding the two gators in an above-ground swimming pool.

The man said he repeatedly tried to call the FWC to remove the reptiles, but he wasn’t able to get in touch with anyone, officers said. He added he didn’t want to get in trouble for having them and gave the name of the person who he said put them there, according to the affidavit. He also said he doesn’t feed the gators, according to the affidavit.

The officers said they walked around the property and found an alligator skull on the ground, with the rest of it buried underground. The man told them he killed it to protect his dog and cats.

Coming around to the front yard, officers said they found a small kiddie pool with six turtles in it. The man told them he got the turtles from a lake behind his home, according to the FWC. One of the turtles, a yellow-bellied slider turtle, is illegal to take to avoid the spread of a virus found in soft-shelled turtles.

He was arrested and charged.

Officers interviewed a woman who previously lived at the home, and she said the man they first spoke with wasn’t responsible for bringing the gators there. She gave them another man’s name and told officers he had been “acting like he was some alligator hunter” and put the animals in the pool, the FWC said.

She showed photos of that man handling a gator in the pool, officers said.

The resident who was arrested pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Marion County is about a 90-mile drive northwest from Orlando.

This story was originally published September 17, 2024 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Gators and turtles found swimming in pools at man’s Florida home, cops say."