“UNDERSTAND it’s just a #FloridaThing … we ride gators growing up”.

That’s the response the Sarasota County Sheriff Office in Florida gave after a post they shared of deputies helping to pull an alligator out of a family’s swimming pool freaked out social media users.

County deputies snapped to it when they were called to the Florida home on Friday after the family found the 11-foot reptile casually taking a dip in their pool.

In the video posted by Sarasota County Sheriff Office on Facebook and Twitter the alligator can be seen happily swimming in the water before trying to avoid capture.

It was a situation deputies really had to sink their teeth into but eventually they managed to get the gator out of the pool with the help of a professional trapper – but the gator didn’t go in easy, putting up a fight and having to be dragged across the pavement and out the door.

In pictures posted to social media, the gator is later seen looking defeated and tied up on the grass at the front of the home.

For the outside world, the thought of a large gator in the pool is the stuff of nightmares but apparently for Floridians it’s just everyday life.

“Lmao that gator in pool incident in Sarasota made the front page of twitter, y’all acting like this doesn’t happen to Floridians every day,” @hailoog tweeted.

@sarasotaSheriff reassured the outside world it was just a Florida thing.

“Dear internet who seems to be freaking out over the 11-foot #gator,” they wrote.

“Understand it’s just a #FloridaThing! We wear bathing suits & flip flops year-round. We buy sunscreen in bulk and well, we ride gators growing up.”

Although, it’s not so hard for Australians to relate, given the wild encounters often experienced in our own backyard.

Aussies come up against snakes stuck in beer cans, kangaroos blocking access to toilet blocks and crocodiles at roadhouses - just to name few.