Alligator freed from soccer net in Lakewood Ranch area

Manatee County wildlife rehabilitator Justin Matthews, of Justin Matthews Wildlife Rescue, has rescued hundreds of animals during his career, but on July 19, he met an alligator who had tried to play soccer.

The roughly 7-foot alligator got tangled up in a soccer net at Braden River Middle School.

Matthews received a call about the trapped animal. After arriving, he put weight on the gator’s back and held his mouth shut with his left hand, while using his right hand to untangle the animal.

“He didn’t try to fight me one time,” Matthews said. “It’s almost like he knew I was going to help him.”

A spectator came over to help tape the animal’s mouth shut until Matthews could release him in a canal and pond nearby.

Matthews said he was glad the lady who called him, whose name he did not know, did not call a trapper. Alligator trappers typically kill the animals, he said.