According to the trade group Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, there are 10.4 million residential swimming pools in the United States.
At 1.59 million, Florida has more swimming pools than any other state in the country.
And the police showed up after one Florida man created the deadliest backyard pool in America.
Most Americans enjoy a swimming pool during the hotter months of the year.
In fact, there is one pool for every 31 people in the United States.
An estimated eight percent of the 130 million households in America have a residential swimming pool in their yard.
But there are a few negatives to residential swimming pools.
Dozens of people, most often children, drown to death in their residential pools.
In 2023, 99 children drowned in swimming pools across Florida.
Most drowning deaths happen in single-family homes.
From 2019 to 2021, Florida had the highest rate of unintentional drowning deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4.
There are also wild pool parties during the summer that often get out of hand due to drunk Florida people disturbing the peace.
And then there is also the issue of folks filling their pools with deadly animals like the Florida alligator.
Alligators can be found in all of Florida’s 67 counties.
During mating season, they often wander into parking lots and local neighborhoods all over the state.
Sometimes these encounters can be fatal.
In 2022, there were 13 total alligator bite incidents in Florida and two of them were fatal.
Alligators in swimming pools are considered a nuisance by the government.
“An alligator is considered a nuisance if it is at least 4 feet long and poses a threat to people, pets, or property,” Florida Wildlife reported. “Alligators under 4 feet long are not usually dangerous to people or pets, unless handled,” they continued. “However, if an alligator under 4 feet is found in a swimming pool, a nuisance alligator trapper can be contacted.”
But local authorities in Marion County recently received a call about a man possibly keeping alligators in his backyard swimming pool.
When authorities arrived on the scene to investigate the tip, the man denied having alligators on his property.
However, he later changed his claim and admitted to having alligators in the pool.
The police also found an alligator that had recently been killed along with freshwater slider turtles.
“Keeping dangerous animals like alligators on your property can be dangerous for not only you–but your neighbors and community as well!” WRIF reported. “How often do we hear about these exotic animals escaping?”
Police arrested the man on two charges of possession of an alligator, one charge of unlawful take, and one charge of unlawful take of slider turtles.
It remains a mystery how the alligators got into the swimming pool and what the man planned to do with them.
He was likely raising them to be big enough to eat and also make leather shoes or a wallet out of the skin.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
