WATCH: Alligator climbs fence at Florida park, backflips into water
LAKELAND, Fla. - A Florida woman out for a hike came across an 8-foot alligator climbing on top of a wooden park bench before scaling a fence and tumbling into the water below.
Selina Phillips, of Bartow, was at the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland on May 4 when she caught the big beast in the act.
She posted the video to Facebook with the caption: "Up and over."
According to the McClatchy News, Phillips at one point didn’t even notice the big gator behind her until she heard a 'heavy clomping sound.'
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"I didn’t actually spot the big gator, that’s the scary part. I had my back turned to the opposite side of the bridge and stopped to look at a great blue heron when I heard the noise," she told the publication. "So I turned around and saw him halfway up on the bench inside the fenced area where [humans] usually are. [And I thought to myself]: 'How did it get there? Did we walk past each other? Did it walk behind me when my back was turned or was he already there?'"
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After the gator backflipped in to the water, Phillips said she went to look for it from behind the fence and said it was sitting right there, hissing just under the bridge."
The video has racked up over 175,000 views.