WFTV (Orlando, Florida) 03 June 05 Man Surprised By Six-Foot Gator Hiding Under Van
Merritt Island, Florida: A Merritt Island man's morning routine was rudely interrupted by a gator under his van and, trappers said, the gator was mad. It looked like he had already been in a fight with another gator.
The trapper that removed the animal believes the gator traveled more than 200 yards from a canal behind some homes down the street and made its way underneath the van. It stunned the Bulgarian immigrant, who didn't realize he was dealing with a gator until it was just inches away.
Ivan Spasov came out to his van to get a pack of cigarettes Friday morning. When he opened the door, he heard a thump and leaned down to find the six-foot long gator hiding underneath.
"I just jumped a little far from it, that's it," Spasov said.
The gator took refuge under the van sometime during the night and wasn't about to leave. At one point, the gator snatched the trapper's tool out of his hands and, at another point, chomped into the underside of the van.
Trapper Bill Rob said this wasn't the gator's first battle.
"Eleven uprights on the back of the tail; there should be 21," Rob explained.
Injuries to the tail led him to believe he may have been forced out of his territory by a larger male gator, protecting his turf. Friday, however, the gator fought his last battle. The animal was killed.
The trapper says alligators should be getting into their nesting season soon, so we should see fewer of them on the move.
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Man Surprised By Six-Foot Gator Hiding Under Van
