In an unexpected wildlife encounter, a Florida resident experienced a startling moment when a massive alligator made an uninvited appearance at her front door. **[Video](#)**
NATALIE GAINES, a resident of Lake Mary, Florida, recounted the peculiar incident to FOX 35. “I heard a knock at the door and then nothing else,” she said. “I waited a while, and then I heard it again.”
Upon reviewing her doorbell camera footage, Gaines was met with an astonishing sight. “There was a full-blown alligator sitting at our front door,” she revealed. The reptile, estimated to be between seven and eight feet long, appeared to be making itself at home.
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Gaines described the alligator’s behavior as it lingered at her doorstep. “After it stood up and kind of banged on the door, it laid back down,” she noted. Although wildlife sightings are common in the area, Gaines emphasized the unusual proximity of this encounter. “We always see wildlife, but not this up close, knocking on the door,” she added.
After a prolonged stay, the alligator eventually retreated to a nearby body of water. Gaines, who frequently spots bears and deer around her property, confirmed this was her first alligator encounter.
**[Video](#)** captured by Gaines shows the gator ambling across her driveway, seemingly uninterested in further interaction. “He just wants to be left alone,” Gaines said, initially calling a trapper before realizing their services were unnecessary.
This incident follows another recent alligator encounter in Florida, where a woman bravely pried open the jaws of a gator to save her dog. The dog survived the harrowing ordeal.
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**Sources:**
FOX 35: [Florida Woman’s Alligator Encounter](#)
FOX News: [Dog Rescued from Alligator Attack](#)