Enormous alligator spotted on Florida golf course

Alligators number 1.3 million throughout Florida but the specimen spotted in Naples shocked even those well used to their presence

A giant alligator was spotted on a Naples, Florida golf course (YouTube)

Florida residents are more accustomed than most to seeing alligators, crocodiles and creepy crawlies.

But an enormous alligator ambling across the greens of a Naples golf course shocked even the most world-weary Floridians.

"HUGE FLORIDA GATOR!" said Matt Devitt, a meteorologist with WINK News. "Yep, this monster is real."

The alligator was seen at Valencia Golf and Country Club in video posted online on Wednesday.

It waddled across the green, heading towards a pond by the 17th hole of the 18-hole course.

Many thought the enormous animal had been photoshopped, until the video was shared to prove the creature was real.

Crocodiles and alligators both live in Florida, with the Everglades the only place on earth in which both coexist.

Crocodiles are far more rare, with only around 1,500 in the state, and are classed as a threatened species.

They have longer, pointier snouts and show its teeth when its mouth is closed; alligators have shorter, more rounded snouts and their teeth disappear when their mouths are closed.

Crocodiles are also typically lighter in colour, with tans and browns; alligators are darker, showing more grey and black tones.

Crocodiles live a lot longer, with a life span averaging 70-100 years, while alligators only live on average 30-50 years.

The alligator was spotted on the 17th hole of the Valencia Golf and County Club in Naples, Florida (YouTube)

An estimated 1.3 million alligators live in Florida, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife, but there have only been five reported alligator-related fatalities in the state since 2010, and only 25 in the 71 years from 1948-2019.

In May a 58-year-old South Carolina woman, Cynthia Covert, drowned when an alligator pulled her under the water by her home on Kiawah Island.

The last Florida fatality was in June 2018, when Shizuka Matsuki, 47, was killed by a 12-foot alligator in Davie, southeast of Fort Lauderdale.