CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A 9-foot alligator was the last thing Luann and Jorge Alonso expected to see on the front porch of their Coral Springs home Thursday morning.

When a loud noise woke Luann up around 5 a.m., she asked her husband to investigate. What he found was that alligator sitting just outside their door.

Situated by a canal that neighbors say flows directly from the Everglades, alligators aren't uncommon sights in their backyards.

The Alonsos have a miniature pinscher who likes to sit in the window. Neighbors believe the gator may have seen the dog and went looking for a meal.

Luann says they often walk Gucci in the early-morning hours.

Trapper Kevin Garvey removed the gator. He says it will be returned to the wild or sent to a gator farm.