By: Sharon Aron Baron

It was a typical Monday evening for Elena Avello, that is, until she received a phone call from her next door neighbor telling her that an alligator was sitting on her front porch.

At approximately 6 p.m., an alligator had found a spot to nestle at the front door of Elena’s home in the Watercrest community in Parkland. Her next door neighbor’s mother happened to be walking by, spotted the alligator, then told her daughter who called Elena to warn her not to exit the front door.

“I looked out of the side window on my front door and there he was, sitting there,” said Elena.

She first called the Broward Sheriff’s Office in Parkland, and they directed her to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The officers arrived within 30 minutes and Elena said the alligator stayed at her front door the entire time.

Elena, along with her 11 year-old son, watched the officers remove the alligator, take him across the street where there weren’t any homes, bound his mouth and take him away. She believes it was around five to six feet long.

A native of South Florida, Elena had been living in the new community on the northwestern part of Parkland for over two years and understood that alligators were here well before humans.

“I’m sure he was just looking for a body of water, but stopped here along the way.”