Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Woman says alligator’s knocks sounded like a burglar trying to get in the front door

The five-foot gator was trapped and will be killed for its meat and leather

New York

Friday 20 May 2016 20:04 BST

Wakey wakey! This five-foot alligator was banging on the door (Fox News)

A woman in Tampa, Florida, said the knocking at her front door at 4am sounded like a burglar was trying to get in the house.

When Dyaniqua Lillie answered the door, a five-foot long alligator was awaiting her.

“My mum woke me up out my sleep. It sounded like someone was trying to break into our house, like our door, like someone was hitting the handle,” she said.

She looked through the peephole and saw police. It turned out they had spotted the alligator before her.

“I’ve never had to deal with something like that before,” she told Fox News.

Tampa’s Florida Fish & Wildlife (FWC) caught the animal from under a car on Friday morning.

The most controversial animal killings

Show all 6

1/6The most controversial animal killings

The most controversial animal killings

Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla

Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

The most controversial animal killings

Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa)

Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer

The most controversial animal killings

Kendall Jones hunting images

Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus

The most controversial animal killings

Rebecca Francis hunting images

Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey

The most controversial animal killings

The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo

Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down

The most controversial animal killings

Swiss Dählhölzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub

A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Bern’s Dählhölzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January

Facebook

FWC spokesman Gary Morse told The Independent that any alligator measuring more than four foot and is deemed a nuisance will be killed for its meat and leather, to compensate the person contracted to kill the animal.

In 2014, 6,706 so-called nuisance alligators were “harvested” in Florida to produce over 102,000 pounds of meat, according to FWC data.

Alligators are becoming increasingly confident, but in doing so they bring about their own death sentence.

In recent weeks another gator was filmed trying to ring the doorbell of a house near Charleston, South Carolina.

Another gator was caught this month snatching a watermelon from a field before sliding back into the river, the fruit in its jaws, as reported by Tampa News.

 This alligator had a sweet tooth  (Florida Agricultural Crimes Intelligence Unit / Facebook)

Despite these harmless encounters, alligators are dangerous, and it is illegal to feed them.

21-year-old Jessie Kingsinger was hospitalised in May after an alligator chomped through his hand and forearm as he dived into a lake to escape the police.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies