Alligator comes face-to-face with robot in pipe as council warns residents not to explore drains
12 May 2023, 19:36 | Updated: 12 May 2023, 20:22
This is the chilling moment an alligator comes face to face with a robot in a storm drain in Florida.
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The five-foot beast was spotted on May 5 in the Florida city of Oviedo.
The city's maintenance team was investigating some potholes on the road. As part of their investigation, they sent their four-wheel robotic camera into pipes to look into problems under the surface.
A spokesperson for the city council explained: "They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc. underground.
Gator in a Stormwater Pipe
"On Friday’s inspection, as you’ll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator!"
The crew thought the alligator was a toad at first, because of the " two little glowing eyes" that are first visible.
Council officers added: "But when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes!
"You can see in the video they got about 340 feet in before the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator meandered off.
"Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes!
"Thank goodness our crews have a robot."
The city posted the video with the intro: "You’ve heard of Snakes on a Plane? How about ‘Gator in a pipe?’"
Alligators often pose a threat to Florida residents, with several deadly incidents recently.
"An elderly woman was dragged to her death by an alligator that was trying to eat her dog.The alligator lunged at Gloria Serge, 85, and her dog Trooper after stalking them at the Spanish Lakes Fairways community in Fort Pierce, Florida on Monday.
"The alligator stalked Trooper from several metres away across a body of water before lunging at the dog, with Gloria frantically trying to protect her beloved pet.
"A neighbour called 911 but Gloria was mauled to death as she tried to spare her pet from being killed by the animal."
Meanwhile a police officer in Florida shot an alligator to retrieve the body of a missing two-year-old boy in April.
