“Florida man,” a popular Internet phrase because of the wild events that happen in the Sunshine State, strikes again, and this time it involves a man, an alligator and a trash can.
In a viral video seen by millions, 26-year-old Eugene Bozzi is seen approaching an alligator with an open trash container. The alligator slowly backs away as Bozzi can be heard saying, “Let me know when the head goes inside.”
Bozzi then closes the lid down, surprising the alligator and causing it to freak out as in goes inside the trash container. The gator somehow fits inside the container as Bozzi brings the container up and closes the lid on it, all while nearby onlookers cheer him on.
It’s a video you have to see to believe.
Bozzi told USA TODAY he learned about the alligator from his kids, but thought it was a baby alligator. Once he saw it how big it was, he knew he had to take action given that his children, as well as other neighborhood kids, were playing outside of his home in Mount Dora, Florida, about 20 miles northwest of Orlando.
“I said, ‘No, I’m removing it because he’s probably hungry,'” Bozzi said. “The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside.”
Bozzi, a U.S. Army veteran, decided to grab the recycling bin from his home to try to trap the gator. He said he had a bad angle initially and the gator could have taken a shot at him. However, he thinks the bin hitting the gator on its head threw it off.
“I used the front like a hippo mouth,” he said. “I saw that he was more timid and he was backing down, so that’s why I knew I had the advantage.”
When the gator was secured in the bin, around 40 people watching the encounter began to clap and cheer on Bozzi. He said that even one mother thanked him profusely for his efforts.
People on Twitter felt the same way about the situation, as they realized how bad it could have gone.
After securing the gator, Bozzi took it down to a bushy area with a body of water. He kicked the bin down and ran off as the alligator crawled out before disappearing into the bushes. Bozzi said the gator didn’t appear to be hurt, and no humans were injured during the event.
Bozzi said he still is absorbing all the social media attention he has gotten from it, but he definitely doesn’t feel like a hero.
“I feel like I was just doing what I was supposed to do at the time to make me feel more comfortable,” he said.
While Bozzi saved people from getting hurt, some people were also wondering how the gator must have felt after being defeated.
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