Florida Man Captures Alligator In Trash Can To Save His Kids [Watch]

When Eugene Bozzi's children alerted him of an alligator outside their home in Mount Dora, he knew he had to think on his feet. And so he did. Bozzi trapped the animal with a trash can, all by himself.

The Florida dad's kids were playing outside their house when they first spotted the alligator. When they told him about the animal, Bozzi initially thought it was a baby gator. But when he realized the size of the animal, he sensed the danger and quickly grabbed a trash can from his home to entrap the gator.

"The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside," Bozzi, a U.S. Army veteran, told USA Today.

The video of the 26-year-old man's adventure with a trash can and an alligator is now going viral on social media with more than 10 million views already.

In the video, Bozzi is seen approaching the alligator with an open trash can attempting to trap the animal, which slowly backs off. He continues to push forward and tells the people around: "Let me know when the head goes inside."

After a few moments of tense struggle, the alligator enters the container. Bozzi then manages to pull the trash can up and closes the lid while the cheering onlookers watched.

"I used the front like a hippo mouth," Bozzi explained how he used the trash can as a trap. "I saw that he was more timid [sic] and he was backing down, so that's why I knew I had the advantage," he added.

Bozzi said he initially made a mistake by approaching the gator at a bad angle and it could have attacked him at that point. But when the bin hit the gator on its head, it threw the animal off, he said.

Though social media hailed him as a hero, Bozzi said he felt he was just doing what he was supposed to do.

Meanwhile, many were worried about what the alligator must have felt when it was trapped inside and defeated.

"Was that absolutely necessary? Not only did he trap the alligator in a wheelie bin causing unnecessary stress to it he also trapped its foot. Leave it alone and it’ll leave you alone," a user replied to the video.

However, Bozzi said the alligator did not appear to be hurt, and no humans were injured during the process. He released the gator into a bushy area that had a waterbody. Bozzi said he just opened the bin and ran off as the alligator crawled out of it and disappeared into the bushes.