A Port Charlotte woman told officials heard a splash coming from her backyard swimming pool in the middle of the night, and when she went outside to check on it, she found a 7-foot alligator.

It took authorities four hours to remove the gator early Saturday.

Kerri Kibbe told WBBH-TV that the gator initially was just resting at the bottom of the pool, but when she turned on the outside lights the reptile started stirring.

She called Charlotte County deputies, and they contacted an alligator trapper. The animal was moved to an alligator farm.