Nathalie Gaines heard a knock at her front door. Nothing followed. She waited. Then it came again. Curious and concerned, she checked her doorbell camera — and what she saw froze her in place. A massive alligator, easily over seven feet long, stood upright on its hind legs, pressing its snout against the door like an unwanted visitor from a Florida swamp, Fox News reports.

The reptile eventually slumped back to the ground, resting at her doorstep as if waiting to be let in. "It was big," Gaines later told Fox News. “We always see wildlife, but not this up close, knocking on the door.”

A seven-foot alligator was caught knocking on a Florida woman’s front door.

Mating Season Brings Gators Into Neighborhoods

This unsettling encounter happened during peak alligator mating season in Florida — a time when male gators are known to wander far from their usual haunts, driven by the search for mates and territory. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) explains that courtship begins in April and escalates into May and June, often prompting aggressive and erratic behavior in males, FWC reports.

That’s exactly what officials believe happened in the Tortuga community of Fort Myers on May 9. At around 7 a.m., Lee County deputies were called to handle a particularly bold alligator seen attempting to enter several homes, People reports.

The animal stood upright on its hind legs before laying at the doorstep.

A Gator With a Lawn Chair on Its Head

The alligator in Fort Myers drew even more attention for its bizarre appearance. When deputies arrived, they found it on a resident’s porch — with a red lawn chair stuck on its head. The chair wobbled as the gator moved, still trying to push into homes. Footage captured by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office showed the reptile peeking through windows and bouncing off doors, acting like a "Peeping Tom," according to The Miami Herald.

The incident wasn’t a simple removal. It took a professional trapper and several deputies to wrangle the creature.

“I think I’m just going to let him settle down,” the trapper is heard saying. “He was wrestling way too much.”

Eventually, four men lifted the alligator into the back of a pickup truck. Its final destination wasn't disclosed, but it was confirmed to have been safely handed off to a licensed trapper.

Florida Officials Urge Caution

Authorities say this type of encounter, while startling, is not unusual for spring.

"Our 3rd precinct deputies responded to a call this morning of a suspicious… gator knocking on doors within the Tortuga community. Thankfully, he was secured and handed over to the trapper safely," the Lee County Sheriff’s Office shared in a Facebook post. They ended the message with gallows humor: “How’s that for taking a BITE outta crime?”

No injuries or property damage were reported in either incident.

The FWC advises Floridians to stay vigilant, particularly near bodies of water. Alligators are most active at dawn and dusk and more likely to enter neighborhoods during mating season. Anyone encountering a threatening gator should call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 1-866-FWC-GATOR.

As for Nathalie Gaines, she says she’s used to seeing deer and bears around her property in Lake Mary — but never anything like this. The alligator eventually wandered off into the nearby woods, leaving only a chilling video behind.