Boy narrowly escapes death after finding 6ft-long alligator on garden patio

The boy, from Los Hornos, Argentina, was left terrified by finding the alligator on his garden patio and ran indoors to tell his dad of the chilling discovery

A young boy has narrowly escaped death after finding an alligator nearly 6ft-long long on his garden patio.

The child, from Los Hornos, Argentina, was about to play in the garden when he was met with the scaly reptile crawling along the path.

The terrified child ran indoors to tell his 42-year-old dad of the discovery, who then called emergency services.

While waiting for police to arrive, the dad and locals rallied together to capture the lone animal, approximately 5ft 6ins in length, successfully wrapping black tape around its mouth.

It is believed the alligator had escaped from a nearby lagoon before arriving as an unwelcome visitor at the family home.

The animal is now residing at nearby The Yacaré Project, which specialises in the conservation of the area.

The marbled-skin creature – known as a Yacare caiman and is native to South America – was heavily hunted in the 1980s for leather, causing a drop in its population.

A ban on hunting has caused the population to increase and there is believed to be a population of 10 million across the South American region.

Although alligator attacks are rare, unprovoked attacks have been documented and can be fatal.

This comes as earlier this year a man got the shock of his life when he was suddenly confronted by an 11ft alligator while he was out fishing for the day.

A video captured on a Go Pro captures the man’s horror as he casts his line into the lake and realises the reptile is swimming towards him.

In heart-stopping footage, the fisherman, called Tommy, makes a run for it after the huge creature silently glides through the water and emerges on the bank.

But then disaster strikes as he trips and falls with the alligator hot on his tail in the Everglades in Florida.

In his panic, the Tommy’s camera falls, but thankfully he manages to get back to his feet again and escape.