Trapper plays with ’gator until it tires, pulls it from pool

In this Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2019 handout photo shows Paul Bedard raising a 9-foot alligator over his head at a home in Parkland, Fla. Bedard, a local trapper, removed the nuisance reptile that had jumped into a customers pool. Bedard stars in the Animal Planet show "Gator Boys." (Paul Bedard via AP)

In this Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2019 handout photo shows Paul Bedard raising a 9-foot alligator over his head at a home in Parkland, Fla. Bedard, a local trapper, removed the nuisance reptile that had jumped into a customers pool. Bedard stars in the Animal Planet show "Gator Boys." (Paul Bedard via AP)

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A Florida animal trapper says he corralled a large alligator by playing with it until it got tired after it hopped into a residential swimming pool.

Celebrity trapper Paul Bedard, who is contracted with the state’s nuisance alligator program, said Thursday that he was dispatched to a house in Parkland, Florida.

Bedard said he was able to pull the nearly 9-foot (2.7-meter) animal out of the water once it grew tired from playing with him in the pool on Wednesday. He put a snare on its mouth and taped it.

He described the reptile as “mellow” and named it Cool Hand Luke after the 1967 film starring Paul Newman.

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Bedard said the alligator weighed 185 pounds (83.92 kilograms).

Bedard starred in Animal Planet’s reality show “Gator Boys.