Yikes! Florida maintenance robot encounters 5-foot alligator in sewer pipe

A maintenance robot patrolling Florida’s sewers came face-to-face with a five-foot alligator dwelling in the pipes. 

City workers in the city of Oviedo, east of Orlando, sent the robot with a camera into the storm sewers to investigate reported potholes in the area when it encountered a creature lurking underneath. The crew originally thought it had run into a toad, but then realized that it was something much larger. 

“On May 5, a Stormwater crew was out at Lockwood Blvd near Riverside to investigate a series of potholes that have appeared in the roadway. The crew has a robot, which is a four-wheel robotic camera that can go into the pipes and investigate any anomalies under the roadway. They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc.. underground,” the City of Oviedo said in a statement. 

“On Friday’s inspection, as you’ll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator!” the statement continued. 

The robot followed the alligator for around 340 feet through the pipes until it became stuck, allowing the alligator to continue. 

“Just another reason not to go wandering down into the stormwater pipes!” a spokesperson said. 

Users on social media were quick to react to the video of the alligator, with some claiming it reminds them of a horror scene in a movie and others were left wondering how the gator managed to get into the drainage system in the first place. 

The City of Oviedo Administration speculates that the alligator could have entered the labyrinth of sewers through “one of the stormwater ponds” that are used to prevent flooding when there is a storm.