Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe PALM BEACH, Fla., June 5 (UPI) -- An 81-year-old Florida man canceled a lunch date and trip to his doctor's office after a nearly 8-foot-long alligator crawled under his car. Albert Gehrman said he knew immediately that something was unusual Monday when he started his car at the Ridgeway Mobile Home Park on Hobe Sound. Advertisement "All of a sudden, there was this 'thump, thump, bang, bang," Gehrman told the Palm Beach Post. Gehrman's afternoon plans immediately changed. The mobile home park is not near a lake or canal but wildlife experts say alligators tend to roam during mating season. State officials received more than 17,000 calls about the wandering reptiles last year and the current drought in the state has worsened the situation. The 7-foot-8-inch gator was nabbed by a licensed trapper. "We're seeing them all over the place," a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokeswoman told the newspaper. "They're just looking for water and each other."
