Video shows a Florida Army vet trapping a 6-foot-long alligator in a trash can

• A man caught a six-foot alligator by trapping it inside a trash can.
• Video footage caught Eugene Bozzi managing to snare the alligator, and then releasing it.
• He said he wanted to protect his children, so he used the lid of the trash can "like a hippo mouth."

A US Army veteran in Orlando, Florida, was captured trapping an alligator in a trash can.

Eugene Bozzi, 26, who is originally from Philadelphia, trapped the alligator, which CNN reported was six foot long.

Video footage shows Bozzi moving towards the alligator with a trash can turned on its side, moving closer, and closing the lid to trap it. He then turns the trash can upright.

Watch the video here:

Bozzi told The New York Post that he was in his garage and talking to his nephew when he "heard a little commotion outside."

He said "My daughter was riding a bike, and she was like, 'Hey, this big alligator just hissed at me!'"

He said he went to have a look, and then decided to take action: "I went over there and it was bigger than me. There were other people's kids out there also. Military instinct kicked in - and, you know, 'protect at all costs.' "

He told USA Today: "The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside."

He told the outlet that he used the lid of the trash can "like a hippo mouth."

Other footage shows Bozzi wheeling the trash can with the alligator inside to a pond, where the alligator gets out and he wheels his trash can back.