Video: Florida deputies capture gator spotted at high school

Gator 'expelled' from a Parrish high school

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.

PARRISH, Fla. - Some Manatee County deputies had the tough task of wrangling a gator that had made its way onto a high school campus, according to the sheriff's office.

Body camera video released by MCSO shows the encounter on Tuesday morning at Parrish Community High School.

At 6:40 a.m., a bus driver called dispatch after a gator was found in their bus drop-off loop.

"We are going to have a pretty good fight with this one," said Sgt. Rob Hendrickson with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office in the video.

Sergeant Rob Hendrickson and Deputy Amy Dunkum were called in for help.

The gator, which was 7 to 8 feet long, resisted the deputies' efforts before they finally reined it in.

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Courtesy: Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

"Y’all make this look like you do this on the regular," said a school administrator as the deputies wrangled the alligator.

Sgt. Hendrickson responded, "We do."

Calls for help with gators or other wildlife come in weekly for Sgt. Hendrickson and Deputy Dunkum.

"If there’s an issue, we will try and handle it best we can," said Sgt. Hendrickson.

The gator was stuck with no place for it to go.

"The gator actually couldn’t leave the bus loop where it was at. There was a fence around the pond. There was nowhere for the gator to go to, it couldn’t get to the pond. It couldn’t get to the water," said Sgt. Hendrickson.

"For the animal not to be able to get back into the water, it was concerning," said Deputy Dunkum.

The deputies then drove the gator to a boat ramp, where video shows it "moonwalking" into the water.

He left the deputies with a smile.

"He decided he was going to face us and then started walking backwards. I got amusement out of it. It reminded me of him moonwalking," said Deputy Dunkum.

Just about everything that Sgt. Hendrickson and Deputy Dunkum catch they are able to release them into other parts of the area.

Manatee County deputies wrangle alligator

Body camera video from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office shows deputies capturing, then safely relocating, a gator that made its way onto the campus of Parrish Community High School.

What you can do:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission urges anyone with concerns about an alligator to call FWC’s toll-free Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-392-4286.

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The Source: This story was written using information and video from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

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