It was a Sunday night, and I made my routine stop at Walmart. Usually I stop and get things like Steak, Chicken, all kinds of bread, tacos, ramen noodles, and many other various items I consume on a weekly basis. I went inside Walmart and shopped around for my items. I start to hear people in distress. The noise was coming from the left entrance. I ignored it and kept shopping since I was in such a rush to get home. I got to try samples from all the sections of the store. Everything from ham, to bread, to steak. Every section in the grocery department had something to sample. I went to the checkout counter once I’d found everything I was looking for. I was greeted with a very long line that seemed like it lasted an eternity. After seeing all kinds of crazy people case havoc to all of the cashiers, I was finally up to the checkout counter. My total came out to $67.83. I got all of my groceries bagged up and continued to my car.

I went to walk out the door and I was stopped by a bunch of people screaming at me. I looked down to see a huge alligator at my feet. It was huge, probably 6 feet long, and it was just standing right there. I let out a loud scream and ran back inside. I was prepared to wait in the store for the rest of my life to avoid the alligator. The police quickly came to block off the doorway where the alligator was. The alligator just sat there, still, we didn’t know if it was scared, or just not fazed by all the people walking around it yelling for help. The police called animal control to come catch the alligator and move it back to where it came from. After a very long wait, over 2 hours, they finally showed up. When they got there, they investigated the situation. “He came from the retention pond, there’s one behind the store were there has been a countless number of signs warning people they can’t go near it, “said Animal control.

They quickly sprang into action, talking the gator, and then putting it in a cage. They did not trust the alligator staying in his original lake he was suspected to come from, so they brought it to a different lake, many miles away. After that, we were allowed to leave the store. I went out to my car after my 3 hour Walmart adventure and was so grateful to be driving home finally. I didn’t hit one red light on the way home, it was a miracle! I pulled into my garage, still shaking from my scare earlier that day. From that day on I’ve always had a huge fear of gators, and I think I have good reasoning.