Stunned hiker turns to see large alligator climbing fence in Lakeland
A Florida woman accustomed to life with alligators witnessed somethingthat frightened even her: While hiking, she turned to see one of the beasts climbing up and over a fence.
Selina Phillips posted video of the incident on Facebook, where it had been viewed more than 43,000 times as of May 8.
It happened Wednesday afternoon, May 4, at the 1,267-acre Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, and Phillips says she was both afraid and awestruck.
Her video shows the eight-foot alligator first climbed onto a wooden park bench, then used it as leverage to get over a fence intended to keep wildlife at bay.
It takes just 20 seconds and ends with the gator falling nose-first into bushes below.
“I didn’t actually spot the big gator [at first], that’s the scary part. I had my back turned to the opposite side of the bridge and stopped to look at a great blue heron when I heard the noise — a strange loud, heavy clomping sound,” Phillips told McClatchy News.
“So I turned around and saw him half way up on the bench inside the fenced area where [humans] usually are . ... How did it get there? Did we walk past each other? Did it walk behind me when my back was turned or was he already there?”
She quickly distanced herself from the bridge and watched from afar with another hiker. They both noticed the alligator’s
“back flip” was followed by a long, discomforting silence, she said. That made them wonder where it might show up next.
“We walked out on the fenced area to look for it and it was sitting right there, hissing just under the bridge,” Phillips says.
“Seeing the climb and the strength and will power, I walked away more cautious . ... I am a native Floridian so I’ve seen lots of gators and still it was so very cool.”
Her video has gotten hundreds of reactions and comments on Facebook, with some calling it scary and others joking it proves Florida’s alligators are getting smarter. Many were just as surprised as Phillips
to see how easily the alligator topped the fence.
“Oh great. My ‘irrational’ fear of walking down a boardwalk to find an alligator at the end was just
justified,” Tara Brogan wrote on Facebook.
“If they learn how to open doors, we’re in trouble,” Elizabeth Ross posted.
“This is the stuff of
nightmares for me!” Jessica Candelario Heringer wrote.