People living near a senior citizens' community in Port St. Lucie, Florida got the shock of their lives when they saw one of the residents sitting at the water's edge feeding her new friend... which happened to be a dangerous wild alligator.
According to WPTV West Palm Beach, the unnamed woman was seen repeatedly feeding the gator by hand, offering it snacks like breakfast cereal. She even talked to it, calling to it like a dog and even scolding it when it got too aggressive.
“She would bring food back and forth and feed him and he would hang out there all day with her," said the woman's neighbor, Lynette Miller. “She nicknamed the gator Puppy Puppy. She would yell at him and he would come.”
The incident occurred nearly a year ago, and the woman has since moved out of the community. The gator remained for a while longer, but was finally removed by wildlife officials after it began approaching other people looking for more handouts.
"Nobody called the authorities until it came up to a patio and tried to take a steak," Miller said.
While this story didn't end in tragedy (except maybe for the gator, who presumably never got that steak), getting snuggly with dangerous reptiles is probably not a good plan. You could ask the guy who tried to make out with a snapping turtle... except he can't answer you right now.