A Florida man is going viral after a video was shared on social media of him capturing an alligator in a trash can.
Eugene Bozzi, a Philadelphia native, has only been living in Orange County, Florida for a year. But, the man is a military veteran and a devoted father of seven daughters — so when an alligator inched into his yard, he took things into his own hands.
“Somebody’s gotta step up and do something, we all got to look out for each other right?” he told WESH 2. “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.”
Once he caught the gator, Bozzi said — and station showed — he pushed the can down an embankment near a retention pond by his home, pushed it over, and ran.
“Army training kicked in, get it done, dropping it in, keep moving,” he told the local news outlet. While the U.S. Army doesn’t train soldiers specifically on getting rid of pesky alligators, he said, it did teach him how “to be under pressure and not panic and approach the situation and finish the task and eliminate the threat so you can make the environment around you safe.”
“I used my war techniques, and the Steve Irwin came out in me a little bit, you know,” said Bozzi, “and I treated him like a ‘Hungry Hippo’ mouth.”
He was recently featured on CNN and was commended for the courageous act. Bozzi’s well-intended antics caught the attention of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — who advised Floridians not to follow Bozzi’s lead.
The brave dad told CNN’s Chris Cuomo he was concerned about his children, frightened by an encounter they had with a much smaller alligator earlier when he was away from them. Cuomo joked with the man: “An alligator is the least of your problem with seven daughters.”
“Concerned about an alligator?” the commission tweeted. “Don’t grab a garbage can, call our hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286) & we can dispatch a REAL alligator trapper.”
According to the Fish and Wildlife Commission, there are more than 1.3 million alligators living in Florida.
Bozzi didn’t know the official procedures to expel one appearing as an unexpected guest. Instead, he said, “So, I did it my own way.”
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