A couple are housebound after dark as ten foot alligators roam their back garden.
Tiffany and David Rowan got a shock when they moved into their new home.
They discovered a family of ten-foot long alligators living in their pond.
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It is just 30 feet from their house in Venice, south of Tampa, Florida, US, meaning that Tiffany and David are “more likely to see an alligator than a dog”.
Carer Tiffany, 53 and 52-year-old sales manager David say they “wouldn’t step foot outside” after the sun has gone down out of fear they’ll get snapped up by a gator.
“It was quite shocking when I first saw one,” Tiffany told Need To Know.
“I couldn’t believe it. Now, it’s like seeing a dog. It’s constant. They’re huge.
“You can’t lay on a sunbed and relax and we wouldn’t step one foot out outside at night. They are out there and you can’t see them.
“We have a hot tub so when we’re relaxing in that, we can hear big splashes so we know they’re out there.
“The question I always get asked is why would we buy a house like that but we do play baseball and games out there so we can enjoy the garden.
“We can see them coming from a mile away so they can’t creep up on you.
“They are skittish and if an adult comes out they do normally go back into the water.”
Mum-of-three Tiffany says that the alligators sometimes wander onto the residential street and the couple are always on high alert.
The pair check under their car every morning to make sure one hasn’t crawled underneath.
Tiffany said: “When people feed them they start to associate humans with food and come up to the houses.
“There are a lot of ponds in the community so you see them out front and in the street going from pond to pond.
“I’ve seen one on a neighbour’s porch and having a rest on their bench.
“We have to check under our cars with a torch before we get in it in the morning.
“One decided to sit in the middle of the road and stay there and a police officer had to come out and move it but it went under his car.
“I was filming a vulture eating a bird in the back garden and I didn’t realise that an alligator was stalking the vulture.
“I heard a big splash next to me. I almost stepped on an alligator.
“It taught me that you can’t get distracted and to always assume that there’s one there.”
The couple moved from Georgia to Florida in 2019 and David insisted on living by a pond so he could go fishing.
Tiffany said: “We were looking for the place we’d want to retire and a job opportunity came up for David.
“Georgia is eight hours away so it was a big move and a shock to the system. It’s crazy here.
“David warned me that in any body of water in Florida there’d be alligators but when we were looking at houses, I never saw one.
“I was scared when I first moved in and it was shocking. The more I watch their behaviour, I think they get a bad rap but they are predators.
“They usually attack when someone is swimming.
“There are four houses facing the garden so we share it with a couple of neighbours. The pond takes up most of it.
“When it’s hot outside, they do stay in the water.
“If they’re swimming really fast they usually have something in their mouth. I saw one with a turtle in its mouth and the turtle got away.”
Tiffany shares videos of the wildlife in her garden on TikTok and has racked up more than 12,300 followers.
Tiffany added: “People from the UK seem to be the most fascinated by it because they don’t really see these kinds of animals close up.
“People from the UK message me a lot. It’s cool to talk to people from different places and educate them.”
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