Florida boy plays with inflatable alligator while real one lurks

A Florida mother who filmed her six-year-old son playing outside with an inflatable alligator got the shock of her life – when she realised a real gator was lurking just feet away.

In the video, Nicole Mojica’s son, Timmy, can be seen whizzing down a slip and slide in their backyard in Lake Nona, Orlando. 

At first, all seems innocent in the Facebook post. Timmy throws his toy alligator around and his mother can be heard saying: ‘Summer fun, another day.’

But with those fateful words, the camera pans right and there, by a chair, is the real thing: an alligator, looking in the direction of Timmy, and, as yet, spotted by no one.     

When the camera pans right, a real alligator can be seen by the chair, looking in the direction of Timmy. No one spotted it while the video was being made – and fortunately, no one was hurt

Oblivious to the danger, Ms Mojica continues her (now ironic) commentary: ‘Wrangling gators… I was hoping to make one of those funny YouTube videos – like the gator did something to you and you popped up in the air.’ 

It was only later that she realised what she’d filmed. Fortunately, no one was hurt in this incident. 

‘I saw the brown chair move. Oh my God… Never would I expect [an alligator] so close to us’, Ms Mojica told WFTV.

‘They say they are afraid. Well, he wasn’t. And he went down the slip n’ slide and into the pond,’ she continued.

‘I saw the brown chair move. Oh my God… Never would I expect [an alligator] so close to us’, Ms Mojica said

Ms Mojica added that she does daily ‘gator checks’ before allowing her children to play in the backyard.    

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has warned that in warm temperatures, the state’s estimated 1.3million gators become more active – and should be treated with ‘caution and respect.’

It added that May and June are typically alligator mating season – and the reptiles will be out and about more frequently.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has warned that in warm temperatures, the state’s estimated 1.3million gators become more active – and should be treated with ‘caution and respect’