Among the customers inside a U.S. Post Office in Florida — this 7-foot alligator
Most post office lobbies in Florida are open 24/7 so that people can drop off mail or parcels in collection boxes after hours.
We say “people” so as to be clear because, apparently, human beings aren’t the only ones that make use of the federal facilities’ open door policy.
According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, its deputies were called to a U.S. Post Office facility in the 8500 block of Philatelic Road in Spring Hill on Florida’s west-central coast around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 9.
Someone who had stopped by the post office to mail a package reported a suspicious, er, customer.
Officers found a 7-foot alligator roaming in the lobby area.
But how did the gator get in? This particular post office has automatic double doors that allow customers — including creatures without opposable thumbs — entrance into the lobby.
According to the sheriff’s office, a trapper safely escorted the alligator from the lobby. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a hotline to report nuisance gators at 866-392-4286.
No word on what the gator was mailing or hoping to pick up. Gator bites from Amazon, perhaps?
Naturally, the sheriff’s office’s Facebook post turned many into late night comics — such as this bon mot:
“Well, it IS mating season, maybe he was looking for his mail order bride???”
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 3:43 PM.
