Florida couple wake to find alligator swimming in their pool

April 5 (UPI) -- A Florida couple received an early-morning surprise when they awoke before dawn to find an 8-foot alligator taking a dip in their pool.

Judy and Jerry Zivic said the gator put a hole in the screen porch at their Lakewood Ranch home early Wednesday before apparently deciding to cool off with a swim in their pool.

"Very creepy, I didn't know if he could break through the house at all and I was trying to think should we have a backup plan, what should we do," Judy Zivic told WWSB-TV.

A Manatee County sheriff's deputy responded to the home and summoned an expert alligator trapper to take care of the trespassing reptile.

The couple recorded video as the gator was pulled from the pool.

"The alligator person that was here last night said that we were really lucky," Jerry Zivic said. "He said this is the least amount of damage that he's ever seen on a lanai, he said he's seen gators take down whole sides of lanais."

Experts said alligators are becoming more active in the area as their mating season begins.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office shared photos and video last week after deputies helped a trapper remove an 11-foot alligator from Patricia Carver's backyard pool. The alligator in that case also caused damage to the home's screen porch.