Florida man finds alligator hiding in garage

March 16 (UPI) -- A Florida man discovered an alligator hiding in his garage while searching for a box on Wednesday.

Hank Stout of Merritt Island said he went into his garage to retrieve a box when he found the gator, which he thought was a plastic toy.

"I thought, 'Well, who put a fake alligator in my garage?" Stout told WOFL. "And then I realized when it hissed at me, it wasn't fake. It was a 6-foot-long alligator."

After realizing the gator was real, Stout went back inside his home and contacted 911 to have the gator removed.

Trapper Frank Robb managed to capture the gator within minutes and said it likely stopped in Stout's home while traveling from one body of water to another.

"You get calls like this every now and again. People leaving their garage doors open at night time," he said. "The closer we get to spring the more this will keep happening."

Stout said he left the garage door open while taking his son to a Boy Scouts meeting the night before he found the gator.