Florida Couple Finds Alligator Taking a Dip in Backyard Pool

May 17, 2014— -- A Florida couple hopes they no longer find any more unwanted guests inside their backyard after discovering an eight-foot alligator floating in their pool.

Sharon Bente heard a noise in her backyard in Bradenton, Fla. about 4 a.m. Thursday when she found the gator taking a dip in the pool, she told ABC affiliate WWSB-TV.

"I saw something that is not usually in the pool along with the little floaty, and it turned out to be an eight-foot alligator," she said.

The gator had ripped through a screen of the enclosed patio, said Bente's husband, John Bente.

"He was just swimming around in circles," he said. "He tried to get up here for awhile, [but] I think he was a little intimidated with everybody watching, too."

A trapper later came and removed the reptile after the couple called the Sheriff's Office.

"It was quite an evening," said John Bente. "I'm sure there's other alligators. I'm sure I'm going to be sleeping with my - with at least one eye open for awhile."

The couple has since repaired the screen surrounding the pool, while the gator was taken to a farm in Arcadia.