Life imitates art.
A real, giant alligator wedged itself into a small storm drain in Florida on Sunday. The appearance was a too close imitation of the bloody movie “Alligator.”
But unlike the 1980 B-movie, firefighters rescued the 10-foot-6-inch beast before it could eat a waitress or kill a nearby mayor.
It took six heroes to rip open the culvert and pull the beast from the quiet Cape Coral area to safety.
The crocodile was spotted by a passerby with its snout sticking out of a narrow drainage ditch opening early Sunday morning.
Firefighters used the department's brush truck winch to lift the heavy culvert lid, giving Fish and Wildlife Commission trappers a chance to wrap their hooks around the gator's dangerous jaws.
That's when firefighters pulled the carnivore out of the ditch and loaded it into a pickup truck.
The fire department said the alligator was then transported to an alligator farm to “finish out its life” and possibly be introduced into a breeding program.
“As a firefighter, you never know what will happen, but we are honored to help the Cape Coral community in any way we can,” the department said in a statement. he said on Facebook.
It's not clear how the alligator gained access to the narrow storm drain, but the sewer line borders the Yucca Pens Unit State Wildlife Management Area boundary.
