The Tampa Police Department responded to a scaly intruder at a homeowner’s pool in the Arbor Greene community of New Tampa last month.

In bodycam footage posted to social media this week, TPD officers can be seen assisting a wildlife trapper rope a 9-foot alligator that seemingly broke through the home’s screened-in pool area.

“Just after 3:00 a.m., on March 29, 2026, officers found a gator had let itself in for a solo swim,” wrote TPD on Facebook. “With assistance from a nuisance alligator trapper, the scaly suspect was safely removed, leaving the residents to finally enjoy some well-deserved, gator-free sleep.”

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Florida has roughly 1.3 million gators and they can be found in all 67 counties. So it’s not uncommon for an occasional alligator to end up somewhere it’s not supposed to be, like a pool, especially this time of year.

Alligators are typically more active during mating season, says the FWC, which runs from April through June depending on temperatures.

As for this gator, it probably won’t find love this spring. The FWC labels any alligator over four feet in length as a “nuisance alligator,” which means it won’t be relocated due to the high likelihood of disrupting social structures within their new territories and also because they often try to return where it was initially captured and wreak havoc along the way.

If you see an alligator where it’s not supposed to be, contact the FWC’s Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

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This article appears in Apr. 09 – 15, 2026.