Florida Deputy Responds To An Alligator Report, Finds Pool Float Instead

One Florida deputy sure had a surprise waiting when he responded to an alligator call, ClickOrlando reported on Wednesday (September 9).

Master Deputy Mark Trexler got a call around 1:50 p.m. on August 24. A woman said there was an alligator in a storage shed near her Winter Haven apartment, according to records.

She said her husband was retrieving boxes from the shed. When the husband spotted the gator, he called his wife for help.

“My husband went to the storage garage and there was an alligator locked in there,” the wife said. “He says it’s big, he says it’s big."

When the deputy arrived on scene and grappled with the reptile, it turned out to be a floatie.

"He came…he saw…he conquered the beast. He even knocked the wind out of it. Literally. The gator turned out to be a pool floatie," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on Twitter.

The sheriff also included a picture of the floatie by itself, and Master Deputy Trexler pinching the pool toy's snout.

Sheriff Judd even had a friendly banter with Orlando journalist Gene Wexler over whether the float is a crocodile or an alligator.

"This is funny, but as longtime Floridians y’all should know that’s a croc float not a gator. Notice the V shaped snout and teeth showing," Wexler tweeted.

The two men went back and forth with photo evidence until Wexler conceded.

"HAHAHAHA!!!! Okay fine!! You win this round, Sheriff Judd. Well played.....well played indeed," the journalist said with a triumph emoji.