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Florida crew finds 5-foot alligator hanging out in stormwater pipe

As the camera got closer to the two little glowing eyes, the gator turned around and showed off its long tail.

OVIEDO, Fla. — If anyone needs another reason to not go wandering down into stormwater pipes, there was an alligator found in one in Oviedo.

In a post on the city's Facebook page, a video shows the 5-foot gator hanging out in the pipes before it was evicted.

A stormwater crew was out Friday at Lockwood Boulevard, near Riverside, to investigate a series of potholes that appeared in the roadway. The crew used a four-wheel robotic camera to go into the pipes and check them out.

"They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc.. underground," city leaders explain in the post.

During an inspection, the robot came across the gator – which workers first thought was a toad. As the camera got closer to the two little glowing eyes, the gator turned around which showed off its long tail.

After trying to stand its ground, the scaly reptiles eventually gave up and started to walk away with the robot hot on its tail.

After getting about 340 feet into the pipe, the robot got stuck on a little indentation. The gator, who didn't stop for his new friend's bump in the road, continued to meander off out of sight.

"Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes!" city leaders wrote on Facebook. "Thank goodness our crews have a robot."

Gator in a Stormwater Pipe

You've heard of Snakes on a Plane? How about Gator in a Pipe? On May 5, a Stormwater crew was out at Lockwood Blvd near Riverside to investigate a series of potholes that have appeared in the roadway. The crew has a robot, which is a four-wheel robotic camera that can go into the pipes and investigate any anomalies under the roadway. They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc.. underground. On Friday’s inspection, as you’ll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator! At first, they thought it was a toad and in the video, you see two little glowing eyes until you get closer - but when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes! You can see in the video they got about 340 feet in before the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator meandered off. Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes! Thank goodness our crews have a robot.

Posted by City of Oviedo - City Administration on Tuesday, May 9, 2023

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