When an alligator wonders onto your doorstep, most people run and call in the professionals.
One brave man took matters into his own hands by successfully trapping the wild gator with his trash receptacle and rolling it down to a nearby pond.
A video of 26-year-old Eugene Bozzie wrangling the wild and agitated animal has since gone viral, with many people amazed at his fearlessness and quick-thinking.
Bozzie, a US Army Veteran, told the NY Post that “it was spur of the moment thinking.” The Florida resident said he was in his garage with his nephew when he “heard a little commotion outside.”
Watch the viral video on Instagram HERE
“My daughter was riding a bike, and she was like, ‘Hey this big alligator just hissed at me!’” he said. “I went over there and it was bigger than me. There were other peoples’ kids out there, also. Military instinct kicked in — and, you know, ‘protect at all costs.’”
Bozzie is seen in the video approaching the aggressive reptile with an open trash can. At first, the defensive and hissing alligator attempts to escape the trap, but Bozzie fearlessly proceeds in its capture. After hitting the gator on the head with the lid, he successfully scoops up the animal, all while wearing only socks and sandals.
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While onlookers scream in terror, Bozzie remains calm throughout the video. After the capture, the crowd begins cheering and clapping at his heroic actions.
The video ends with the man wheeling the receptacle containing the gator down a grassy hill to a nearby pond where it is then safely released back into the wild.
When asked why he used his trash can, Bozzi said that it was “big enough to scare him into thinking that’s a mouth,” adding, “cause I watch a lot of ‘Animal Planet’ videos, and he’s going to think that I’m like a hippo or something.”
He continued, “He didn’t put up a big fight…I could’ve been more aggressive, but I don’t like to hurt animals so I took him down safely, and everything worked out.”
Bozzie says it was an “only in Florida” moment.
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