Frightening video captured on a golf course in Ave Maria, FL shows a cart full of players narrowly avoiding the hungry jaws of a pouncing alligator. Lindsay Saban, a local meteorologist with WINK News, posted the video to her Facebook page.
The footage was captured by another guest at the golf club, Denise Pruse, from behind the safety of the pool’s chain link fence. It shows the alligator, seemingly about five feet in length, slowly stalking through the grass between bungalows. It’s trying to make its way back to the pond, which is separated from the grass by a cement walkway.
The unlucky cart passes just as the gator is right in the middle of the walkway. It strikes out at the driver, who swerves to miss the beast and inadvertently drives down the hillside leading to the pond. It appears the two occupants managed to escape without injury, while the gator shook off the encounter and continued to the water.
Many commenters were quick to condemn the cart’s drivers for attempting to outrun the alligator, rather than brake and wait for it to cross; however, a fairly equal number of people came to the driver’s defense, noting it was clear he didn’t see the animal until he was too close to stop.
Others just seemed relieved that they weren’t the alligator’s target. “This is why I would never, ever live in Florida,” one commenter proclaimed.
“So glad my yard is fenced in,” one X-user wrote, accompanied by a rather ominous photo of their wiener dog.
Meanwhile, some posited the alligator’s actions may have been politically motivated. “I’m on the alligator’s side,” one offered. “We keep taking their homes and land.”
According to WTSP 10 in Tampa Bay, Florida is home to 1.25 million alligators. Encounters between humans and animals in the state are hardly rare. Many have much more severe consequences than the incident on the golf course. In September, a 14-foot alligator was found with the body of a deceased woman in its jaws.
Alligator in Florida charges after golf cart. pic.twitter.com/RETXYiKeeJ
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 26, 2024
