It seems that Godzilla has lost its way again. On early Wednesday morning, June 8, a seven-foot alligator has entered the post office in Florida and shocked a customer.
This Godzilla-look-alike creature is said to have sneaked into the building late at night and laid on the ground in the lobby where it was found. It was immediately removed and taken away far from where people live.
Godzilla Visits Florida Post Office
A seven-foot alligator was spotted at the post office located at 8501 Philatelic Road in Spring Hill at around 3:30 AM when a customer who was about to drop off a package saw it lying in the lobby, MSN reported.
According to a statement from the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, the alligator had made its way inside the building through its automatic doors some time in the middle of the night.
The customer, although still in shock, immediately called the local authorities to inform them of the large reptile inside the building. They brought a trapper who caught and safely removed the alligator from the vicinity of the post office.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, an alligator deemed a nuisance will be relocated to a remote area where people are far away.
The FWC defined a nuisance alligator when it is "is at least 4 feet in length and the caller believes it poses a threat to people, pets or property."
However, there are cases when small alligators wind up in swimming pools, garages, and other areas that are unacceptable because they might cause harm. In those instances, the commission's websites state that the public should immediately inform them by calling the toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).
Due to the size of the alligator found in the post office, which is seven feet long, it is deemed a nuisance and therefore was removed from the building, a place frequented by people.
Alligator Attacks in Florida
According to Enjuris, there are about one million alligators that live in the freshwater of Florida. That includes the marshes, lakes calls, rivers, and swamps. That is equivalent to one alligator for every 15 residents in Florida.
Unlike humans, they do not pay attention to roadside barriers or property lines, so they are often seen in yards, golf courses, and other places where food might be present.
Nick Wiley, FWC's executive director, said that people are not the typical prey of alligators. But since the attacks in 2016 when a gator snatched a two-year-old boy from a Florida resort and the recent one when a woman's arm was found inside a gator's intestinal tract was found, residents are warned about some wandering alligators.
Florida alligator attacks statistics date back to 1948; wherein there is an average of three major bites per year. The New York Times reported that the chance of someone being attacked is one in 3.2 million.
From 1948 to 2016, there have been only 23 fatalities recorded due to alligator attacks, according to Newsweek. There were years also when there are no fatalities or injuries by alligators that occurred in Florida.
Check out more news and information on Alligators in Science Times.
