An alligator was taken into ‘custody’ after trying to crash happy hour at a popular Florida tiki bar. 

Officers with the Stuart Police Department were called to Hudson’s on the River on Monday after an unexpected guest was caught discreetly lurking on the rocks mere steps from restaurant’s front door. 

In classic Florida fashion, a 4-foot alligator, around 5 to 8 years old, was spotted trying to blend into the greenery while quietly watching bargoers sip their cocktails. 

Apparently eager for a drink himself, the alligator hissed and thrashed in protest, but authorities were able to safely detain and relocate the scaly visitor without any injuries. 

‘It was wild,’ bar operations manager Ben Foster told 25 WPBF News. ‘It was definitely nothing like we’d experienced before.’

‘I didn’t think I’d come to work today and see an alligator at my restaurant,’ he added.

At about 2:30pm, staff at the busy waterfront restaurant noticed a rowdy intruder making his way into the bar and quickly shooed him off, knowing more of the happy hour crowd was about to arrive.

The alligator seemed to take the hint but remained nosy, instead trying to camouflage itself on the rocks near the side of the restaurant. 

An alligator was taken into ‘custody’ by police (pictured) after trying to crash happy hour at a Florida tiki bar, startling drinkers who spotted it lurking just feet from the entrance

On Monday, officers with the Stuart Police Department were called to Hudson’s on the River (pictured) after a 4-foot alligator, around 5 to 8 years old, was spotted trying to blend into the greenery while quietly watching bargoers sip their cocktails

A bartender immediately informed assistant general manager Sarah Felten, who initially thought she was joking.

‘She said, “What’s our policy on alligators at the tiki?”‘ Felten told WPBF News. ‘I thought she was joking, so I kind of laughed, and was just like, “They’ve got to be over 21.”‘

‘And she said, “No, there’s an alligator at tiki,”‘ she added.

Both Felten and Foster headed over to the gator’s spying enclave, where he looked less like a dangerous predator and more like a creature simply wanting a taste of human life. 

‘He was just very docile,’ Felten told the outlet.

Foster agreed, adding: ‘He was definitely not being aggressive in any way. He was just hanging out.’

But they knew they couldn’t leave him there, despite his lack of aggression – especially since he had chosen a spot where children and pets often play while parents socialize. 

‘Thankfully, he was only about four and a half feet, so it wasn’t a full grown adult, but it was definitely pretty scary,’ Felten said.

Before capture, the alligator remained nosy, instead trying to camouflage itself on the rocks near the side of the restaurant (pictured)

Operations manager Ben Foster (pictured) said: ‘It was wild. It was definitely nothing like we’d experienced before. I didn’t think I’d come to work today and see an alligator at my restaurant’

Two managers of Hudson’s (pictured) said that the gator he looked less like a dangerous predator and more like a creature simply wanting a taste of human life

‘I actually came in this area here to try and scare him off, but he was just not afraid of me at all,’ she added. ‘I was more afraid of him than he was of me.’ 

Staff eventually called authorities where four officers responded – most of whom, surprisingly, had never dealt with an alligator on the job. 

‘I got there initially, was kind of surveying the scene, and trying to see what the best options are,’ officer Kyle Osinga told Treasure Coast News.

‘My coworkers all got there and determined they had some equipment that would be beneficial,’ he added.

With no trapper available, the officers had to handle the relocation themselves, using a dog snare around the alligator’s mouth to coax it off the rocks.

The alligator fiercely resisted capture, hissing and wrestling as authorities worked to restrain it without causing injury to themselves or the reptile. 

‘Of course, alligators do their death rolls, where it just sits there and spins and we let it tire itself out,’ Osinga told the outlet.

While Osinga, a police officer with no prior wildlife experience, taped the reptile’s mouth shut, two other officers experienced in handling gators were able to get on top of it, according to WSVN 7 News.

‘I was a little nervous,’ Osinga told TCPalm. ‘My partner was holding the mouth shut. I’m like, “don’t let go, I don’t need to get bit.”‘

With the gator finally restrained after roughly 15 minutes, one officer couldn’t resist a triumphant photo – grinning ear to ear as he held its taped mouth and leg. 

‘Stuart Police received a call from a local tiki bar about an unexpected guest,’ the department wrote in a Facebook post. ‘And no, it wasn’t a rowdy tourist dodging their tab, it was an actual alligator, apparently looking to crash happy hour.’

‘Officers arrived and promptly took the scaly suspect into “custody” without incident,’ they added. ‘No injuries to the gator or any humans, just one wild story and a few surprised bar-goers.’

‘The party-seeking reptile has since been relocated to a more suitable venue, where the only cocktails are in the swamp and the sun never sets on happy hour.’ 

The bar joined in on the fun, reposting the police department’s photos with the caption: ‘Not an ordinary Afternoon at Hudson’s – Gator on the Rocks, Cops for the Chaser!’

In only a day, the police department’s Facebook was flooded with comments about the cocktail-sipping alligator – some laughing, some shrugging ‘only in Florida,’ and others claiming he should’ve been left to enjoy the bar himself. 

‘Good news is, he’s back at his swamp-side lounge where the drinks are bottomless and the cover charge is just showing your teeth,’ one comment read.

While Osinga, a police officer with no prior wildlife experience, taped the reptile’s mouth shut (pictured), two other officers experienced in handling gators were able to get on top of it

The alligator was ultimately moved to Haney Creek Nature Preserve on Northwest Dixie Highway, a sprawling 157-acre area of wetlands, prairies, pines and ponds (pictured: capture)

Another wrote: ‘Nice little swamp puppy just looking for a drinking buddy.’

‘Seriously should have left him be,’ condemned a third. 

One user joked: ‘He wanted a Bloody Mary but not with vodka and tomato juice!!’ 

‘I didn’t see anything sign saying no alligators allowed,’ another comment read.

The alligator was ultimately moved to Haney Creek Nature Preserve on Northwest Dixie Highway, a sprawling 157-acre area of wetlands, prairies, pines and ponds. 

‘It’s a designated area that is known to have that kind of wildlife,’ Osinga told TCPalm.

‘Some of my coworkers presented that location as a safe alternative,’ he added. ‘That way, it’s away from people.’