A woman en route to get her morning coffee was jolted awake with pounding on her front door that she later discovered to be two alligators fighting in front of her home in Florida.

The video of the surprising encounter at Fort Myers was posted on Facebook last week by Susan Geshel.

When she first saw the reptiles before 7am, Ms Geshel told The Fort Myers News-Press that one of the alligators had his snout pinned on her door while the other was stationed at a distance with its snout wide open.

The video then shows Ms Geshel calling her husband in surprise as one of the alligators clamped its jaws on the other’s body and pushed it to the wall as it moved away from the house.

“They made a mess on the front door,” said Ms Geshel, who has never seen alligators on her property in Fort Myers.

After about 20 minutes by her house, one of the alligators walked across the street to a neighbour’s home.

The other disappeared from the area and could have gone to a nearby pond, she added.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Melody Kilborn said the fighting alligators were reacting to being in a confined space.

The reptiles, who Kilborn said are most visible when the weather is warm, also tend to mate during May and June, according to the wildlife agency.