Huge alligator rescued after contractors spot it in Texas drainage ditch, sheriff says

Contractors working on a pipeline in Texas discovered a huge alligator in a concrete drainage ditch, officials said.

After they spotted the large reptile near a highway on Nov. 3, they called the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement provided to McClatchy News.

Livestock Deputy Damon Bailey and a game warden responded, and with the help of the contractors, they managed to secure the 9’8” alligator. A photo from the sheriff’s office shows the crew holding down the alligator as its snout and legs were restrained.

This wasn’t Bailey’s first time securing an alligator, officials said, as his family owns Gator Country Adventure Park in the same county. The park says it is home to more than 450 alligators, crocodiles and other reptiles received through nuisance rescues, donations, other institutions and abandonment.

After Bailey, the game warden and the contractors properly restrained the reptile, the alligator was relocated to the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Refuge, near the Gulf Coast in Jefferson County.

“The American alligator is the single most important reptile and predator on the Area with a population density likely not exceeded in any other site in Texas,” the wildlife refuge says.

The sheriff’s office says alligators are frequently spotted in Jefferson County, and deputies try to get them to safety when they are near a neighborhood or busy road.

“It’s all in a day’s work,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 6:15 PM.