"Ginormous" Alligator Caught in Houston Suburb

MISSOURI CITY— A “ginormous” alligator was caught lurking in a residential neighborhood not far from an elementary school in a Houston suburb.

A resident of Missouri City, Texas was traveling home in the early morning hours this morning when he came across an 11-foot alligator on the road just down the block from where he lives. Cornealous Greigg Jr. said, “He was ginormous. He was large. I’ve never seen one that big up close.”

Greigg Jr. stayed inside his vehicle and called the police, who arrived and kept an eye on the gator until a trapper was on scene. It took the trapper nearly three hours to catch the 11-foot, 1,200 lbs. beast that is estimated to be around 85 years old.

“He kept flopping around at different angles where we couldn’t get him high enough to get him in the bed of the truck,” Timothy DeRamus, who is with alligator control for the State of Texas said, “An alligator like this could knock my leg off real easy. He’s just a massive beast.”

The alligator will be taken to Gator Country Rescue Park according to DeRamus.

Texas Parks and Wildlife have said that alligator sightings have increased in recent years due to habitat conditions, new water impoundment projects, and legal protections.