(NEXSTAR) – A Florida man has gone viral after he was seen on video capturing an alligator at his home using a large trash bin.
A video seen by over 11 million viewers shows 26-year-old Eugene Bozzi pushing the open trash can toward the gator as the creature continued to back away.
Bozzi can be heard saying, “Let me know when the head goes inside. Let me know! Somebody let me know when the head goes inside of the thing.”
Someone else can be heard replying, “Yeah, I got you!”
As Bozzi, wearing socks and slides on his feet, pushes the trash can more quickly toward the gator, he drops the lid, which falls on the huge reptile’s head, causing it to thrash furiously as it find itself partially inside the bin.
Bozzi persisted, continuing to move forward until the gator was fully inside the container. Then he pulled the bin upright and secured the lid to onlookers’ cheers that could be heard on the video.
Bozzi told WOFL in Orlando he was surprised by how heavy it was. He said the animal was “real strong” and that it “felt like a person was actually hitting the top of it trying to get out.”
Bozzi said the gator eventually calmed down and he was able to wheel the trash can to a nearby lake and release it.
According to USA Today, Bozzi acted after his kids told him about the alligator outside his Mount Dora, Florida, home. He said he first thought it might have been a baby gator until he saw the size of it.
“I said, ‘No, I’m removing it because he’s probably hungry,'” Bozzi told USA Today. “The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside.”
