A five-foot-long alligator let itself into a couple’s house while they were asleep in bed (Picture: SWNS)

A couple were given the fright of their life when an alligator crept into their house in the middle of the night.

Yes, that’s right. An alligator.

The five-foot-long monster snuck in through the doggy door flap while Don Schulz and his partner Jan were sleeping at their home in New Iberia, Louisiana, USA.

They were awoken by their family dog barking at 1.30am and Jan told Don she thought she could hear someone inside the house.

Thinking it was a two-legged intruder who had broken in, Don grabbed his gun and wandered down the hallway, wearing just his underwear, to investigate.

He noticed something on the floor but couldn’t make out the shape of it at first.

But when he realised that it was a huge sharp-toothed reptile chilling a matter of inches away from his foot, he immediately stepped back.

The huge reptile was chilling in Don and Jan’s hallway at 1.30am (Picture: SWNS)

Don, who had been standing no more than 12 inches from the jaws of the terrifying creature, called the Sherriff’s Office for help, who then notified the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to help remove the alligator.

After the incident last Saturday, Don said: ‘Panda, our Australian Cattledog, growled a bit in bed at 1.30 this morning.

‘Jan tapped me and said she thinks someone is in the house. I grabbed my pistol and in my underwear, I turned the corner into the hallway.

‘It was dark, but I stopped because I could see a shape on the edge of the rug. I couldn’t focus very good having just woke up.

The alligator had managed to get in through the doggy door flap (Picture: SWNS)

‘But when the full shape registered in my brain I jumped back. My foot had only been about 12 inches away from its head.

‘I yelled to Jan that there was an alligator in the hallway. She thought I was full of s***, so I took a pic and showed her, then called the sheriff’s office.

‘The ‘gator was about five feet long and it came into the house through the dog door.’

Specialists from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries managed to capture and restrain the alligator before removing it from the property.

Specialists were called in to remove the beast from the house (Picture: SWNS)

The experts managed to restrain the ‘gator (Picture: TMX / SWNS)

Once they were able to utter the words ‘see ya later, alligator’, experts told Don and Jan that it was simply looking for somewhere to keep cool in the hot weather – and had been drawn to their air conditioning unit.

Don added: ‘The expert thought that since it’s been so hot for the last couple of weeks, it felt the cool air seeping out from around the dog door and just followed it into the house.

‘I only run the a/c to the bedroom zones at night so it followed the cool breeze to the far end of the hallway and was lying right below the cold air return.’

American alligator’s are one of the largest reptiles found in North America, according to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

They managed to get hold of the alligator and move it to the garage (Picture: SWNS)

The alligator’s mouth was tied up to stop it attacking anyone before it was finally removed from the house (Picture: SWNS)

There are more than one million wild alligators living in Louisiana and while they are normally found in coastal marshes, they have been known to make their way into people’s houses in the past.

Or in some instances, they do like to take a stroll along a busy motorway.

They live up to 70 years and can also be found in ponds, lakes, canals, rivers and swamps – but not this guy, he fancied the comfort of Don and Jan’s hallway. 

At least the alligator didn’t copy its close crocodile friend and take a dip in a swimming pool like this one in Florida did earlier this month.

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