Snappy squatter! Moment construction workers battle to evict a monster 12ft alligator after it moved into newly-built home in Florida

• The huge reptile was squatting in a house in Babcock Ranch, near Fort Myers 
• It is thought the animal wandered into the empty house to try to escape the cold  
• A wrangler and construction workers had to drag the bad-tempered gator out

This is the moment a thrashing 12-foot alligator was dragged out of a newly-built Florida home after it was discovered in the master bedroom.

The huge reptile broke into the house in Babcock Ranch, near Fort Myers, where homes sell for as much as $1.5million, and caused thousands of dollars.

Project manager Matthew Goodwin filmed the animal putting up a fierce fight as as a wrangler caught it and pulled it out of the home.

The 12ft alligator was forcibly removed from a newly-built home in Babcock Ranch, near Fort Myers in Florida

A local wrangler and construction workers dragged the animal out of the house, where it had caused $2,500 worth of damage

Goodwin’s footage. filmed last month, shows a group of men removing glass doors into the house there the massive animal is resting. 

A wrangler walks inside carrying a lasso and loops it around the alligator’s snout, before tightening it.

The alligator snarls and spins on the floor, trying to escape as the wrangler and another man drag it outside.

Another man joins them and they haul the unwilling reptile, which the wrangler identifies as male, round to front of the house.

The alligator begins to roll around again in an effort to escape, as one of the men says it wants to get into the water behind the house rather than up to the road. 

However, the they get the reptile up to a large vehicle so it can be moved to a new location.

Goodwin said the alligator was discovered by a shocked worker who had gone to fit blinds to the windows at the home.

The bad-tempered animal fought every step of the way, even going into a ‘death roll’ to try and escape

It is thought the reptile crawled into the house in an effort to escape the cold, but became trapped when the door closed behind it

New houses at Babcock Ranch go on the market for as much as $1.5million, the Miami Herald reports.  

It is thought the alligator went inside to find somewhere to warm up and managed to get in through the door to the laundry room.  

Goodwin said he was told to get to the development as he needed to see something ‘important’.

He told McLatchy News the animal was trapped in the house after the wind closed the door.

‘He went into every room and made his mark,’ Mr Goodwin said, adding around $2,500 of damage had been caused by the bad-tempered reptile. 

Matthew Goodwin, project manager at the development, said the alligator had ‘made his mark’ on the property

Locals were apparently amused by the discovery, with many making jokes on Facebook.

‘Free pet with purchase of home. What a deal,’ one person said.

A real estate agent who shared pictures of the animal online joked: ‘Sorry Mr Gator, that one’s been SOLD.’

A spokesperson for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said: ‘The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene and FWC notified our Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program (SNAP) of the incident.’

They added ‘a contracted nuisance alligator trapper was dispatched to resolve the situation’.   

It was eventually wrangled into a waiting truck, with Mr Goodwin saying the animal was taken away and released in a different area

Alligators are a common sight in Florida, where they are often found living in freshwater areas including golf courses, as these area provide an abundance of food.    

Alligators can reach up to 16 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds, and some larger ones have been seen eating prey such as deer, bears and even other alligators. 

They are mainly opportunistic predators though, and will eat pretty much anything they can get their jaws on. 

They do this by grabbing hold of their prey in their jaws and dragging it under the water, at which point they violently spin in an effort to drown it, something known as a ‘death roll’.

While they don’t actively hunt humans, there have been reports of attacks on people when they get too close.

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