ABCFor eons, there has been an unspoken agreement between the monsters of the deep (like that 18-foot fish monster, the giant oarfish, that was recently found off the shore of Catalina Island, Calif.) and the monsters of land (us): Stay off our turf.
But that barrier has been breached once again: A 6-foot-long alligator wandered into a Walmart parking lot in Apopka, Fla. and stationed itself outside the store's automatic sliding doors, close enough that the doors kept opening and closing.
Imagine it: Zhoooop. Open. Whoooosh. Close. Chilling.
But in the hour that the alligator lingered, it never entered the store and no one was injured. The store even stayed open during the ordeal. Eventually a trapper was called to remove the alligator, but by the time they arrived, the alligator had already escaped to the wooded area behind the Walmart.
"It was neat. It was neat to see," one shopper, Robin Watkins, noted afterwards (via Yahoo). "But I'm glad they locked the doors for safety because I do have my child with me."
Not as neat as seeing the IKEA monkey, who made a similar surprise appearance at a shopping center and went viral as a result. At least in our humble opinion. Remember him?
Though a shearling jacket might help the gator's cause. Here:
Closer.
ABC reports that The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued a permit for the alligator to be caught and, if he is, a spokesperson says, "He'll be put down, unfortunately. It looks like he has lost the fear of people, and we don't want to take the chance of him hurting anybody."
An added incentive for him to stay off our turf.