Eugene Bozzi is a former veteran and Philadelphia native who found himself in another fight, this time in Orange County, Florida.
A stray six foot long alligator was making the rounds in a residential area so Bozzi thought of a way to capture the hostile creature.
The alligator kept hissing, obviously ready to attack.
“I don’t know the procedures, so I did it my own way,” Bozzi says.
There is no way any of us would even think of facing an alligator.
What Bozzi does is use an open trash can, a big one, pushing it closer and closer as he attempted to corner the animal and back it up against a garage door.
That gator was likely thinking of Eugene as its lunch.
He managed to back up the gator against a wall, eventually getting the gator’s head inside the bin.
Bozzi pushed forward, getting the body inside then snapped the lid over it.
Then he muscled the bin upright as the alligator violently flailed its tail around.
But not even a powerful animal can fight gravity. Bozzi got the creature trapped inside.
“Somebody’s gotta step up and do something, we all got to look out for each other right?” hesays. “I was frightened when I had it in it, because it was so powerful. And I didn’t expect that, it was pushing out, whipping its tail around.”
Amused and shocked onlookers gathered around before applauding Bozzi’s successful fight.
He wheeled the bin across the street and down a grassy slope before releasing the gator at a nearby lake.
Bozzi says his “army training kicked in get it done, dropping it in, keep moving.”
He had only moved to Florida recently, and now he’s finally got a Florida welcome.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw the video and issued some words of caution while advertising their services.
“Concerned about an alligator? Don’t grab a garbage can, call our hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286) & we can dispatch a REAL alligator trapper,” they wrote.
“There are 1.3 million alligators in Florida living in all 67 counties, inhabiting all wild areas of the state that can support them,” the FWC continued.
Denise Sparks owns the house where Bozzi captured the alligator.
She had no idea it was there until the commotion.
“I said, ‘No, I’m removing it because he’s probably hungry,'” Bozzi shared. “The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside.”
Brave man!
His bravery is admirable but the official Twitter account of Orange County, Florida, retweeted the video with a warning: “Reminder: Alligators are not recyclable in your blue lid cart.”
Sounds good to us though!
This is Florida where alligators can be found in someone’s yard, a pool, or at random on the streets.
The safest bet is to call the experts but Bozzi knew there were kids around so he acted swiftly. The gator getter is here!
Watch Bozzi’s incredible capture in the video below!
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