Feisty Florida gator head-butts trapper in escape attempt

OCOEE, Fla. – An alligator roaming through a central Florida neighbourhood head-butted a trapper, knocking him out cold in a last-ditch effort to escape.

The incident which was caught on video released Tuesday by a TV station caused quite a disturbance along a residential street in Ocoee, which is near Orlando.

Video shown by WKMG-TV shows a Florida Fish and Wildlife trapper putting the 8-foot (2-meter) gator in the back of a truck. The feisty, tied-up alligator lashed out and head-butted the trapper. The trapper fell to the ground as police and another trapper worked to get the gator back inside the truck. The video was first posted to YouTube on May 25.

Neighbours say the alligator was walking through front yards before trappers arrived.

There was no word on the trapper’s condition.

The alligator was eventually taken away.