She snapped photos of the gator outside after her husband called to alert her of the presence of the 6-foot long gator from inside the house.
"I took a wide path around the outside of the yard to get into the dogs.I walked very slowly, no sudden movements," she told WFLA.
Smith eventually made it inside the house when the gator slipped through a bush and made it's way to her front door where stared at her pet dogs through a glass window.
"Here's this alligator with its head sitting on my front doorstep," she said. "It curled up and stayed there, laying his snout literally right there up against the door ledge."
A trapper eventually arrived at the home to haul off the large gator and Smith said she and her husband will take extra precaution when opening their door in the future.
"Now no matter what, we look out the side window and on the front porch before we open the door to take the dogs out. That's an absolute," she said.
