A Philly Man Is Being Celebrated For Improbably Capturing A Gator With A Trash Bin In Florida

Over 1,000 miles separate Philadelphia and Florida, but they share something in common: They attract some real characters. There isn’t an equivalent for “Florida Man” in the City of Brotherly Love, but real heads know it’s a hotspot for one-in-a-million eccentrics. (If Mare of Easttown had a major flaw, it’s that it didn’t have enough Philly weirdos.) So what happens when a Philadelphia Man moves down to a place where residents bite spring breakers in the face for littering? You get something like the viral video below.

NBC 10 out of Philadelphia proudly reported on the exploits of one Abdul Gene Malik, a former combat veteran and Philly native who reinvented himself as a gator wrangler in Central Florida. When one of the reptiles wound up hanging outside of his home, he got inventive.

The video shows Malik laying down a plastic trash bin, slowly pushing it towards the beast as it hisses at him, all while a nervous crowd watches. (And in one case records it.) Things get especially tense towards the end, when the lid accidentally slams onto the gator’s head. Instead of losing his cool, Malik takes advantage of the confusion, making a quick and final push to scoop the critter up. At that point he tips the can over, the gator fully captured. Cue applause.

According to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission, they receive a year average of 16,000 alligator complaints. Still, if you’re a Floridian who finds a massive, scary reptile lurking outside your home, remember that Malik is a professional. And probably a former Wawa customer.

(Via NBC News Philadelphia)