When it came to an alligator problem in a residential area, one man was ready to take out the trash.
Abdul Gene Malik, an Army veteran, said he was protecting his family when the gator got into the front yard of their Florida home. Knowing the gator needed to be removed, he grabbed the nearest thing that could hold it, which just so happened to be a garbage can.
Every element of this video is a work of art. Now, if I was facing the same challenge I’m not entirely sure what technique I’d use — but this is definitely the blueprint for catching a gator in the trash can. Firstly he approaches it slowly, as if the can is a challenging predator. The gator, proud idiot it is, refuses to turn tail. Instead it hisses at the can hoping the plastic receptacle will back down first.
Whether intentional or by accident, what happened next is sheer beauty. Malik swings the can lid down, bopping the gator on the head like plastic jaws of a snarling beast. He then rushes the gator like a lineman, scooping it up without issue.
I’m absolutely not suggesting people should run out and try to catch gators in trash cans. There are so many ways this could have gone wrong, but when faced with the issue of gator vs. family, he did it in the perfect way. Me, I’ll stick to scooping up spiders with pieces of paper and drinking glasses and feel like a hero in my own right.
