There are currently more than 10.4 million residential swimming pools in the United States, according to the trade group Pool & Hot Tub Alliance.
And with 1.59 million residential pools, Florida has more than any other state in the country.
But one Florida man created a backyard swimming pool so deadly that the police were forced to show up.
A whole new reason to swim with caution
Many Americans enjoy relaxing around a backyard swimming pool, especially during the hotter months of the year.
In fact, there is one residential pool for every 31 people in the United States.
An estimated eight percent of America’s 130 million households have a residential swimming pool in their yard.
But there can be some negatives to residential swimming pools.
Of course, there is the high cost of installing and maintaining a pool.
And unfortunately, hundreds of people, most often children, drown in their residential pools.
Most drowning deaths happen in swimming pools in single-family homes.
In 2023, 99 children drowned in swimming pools in Florida alone.
And from 2019 to 2021, Florida had the highest rate of unintentional drowning deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4.
There can also be raucous pool parties during the summer that often get out of hand due to drunken guests disturbing the peace.
And then there are the rare cases of folks filling their pools with deadly animals.
Keeping deadly animals over 4ft
Deadly animals like the Florida alligator.
Alligators are found in all of Florida’s 67 counties, but they aren’t supposed to be found in residential swimming pools.
But 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 a total of 13 alligator bite incidents in Florida and two of these were fatal.
That’s a good reason why alligators in swimming pools are considered a nuisance by the Florida 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 his swimming 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 possibly raising them to be big enough to eat and also make leather shoes or a wallet out of the skin.
But this Florida man won’t be having any gator bites anytime soon.