If you think you’ve seen everything there is to see when it comes to creepy creatures in your back yard, think again. You never know what could be lurking just out of sight… as one Texas dad discovered, when he had to save his daughter from something completely unexpected in the canal behind his home – a near-12-foot alligator.
Andrew Grande, who lives in League City, caught sight of the reptile heading for his 4-year-old little girl as she innocently fished for crabs with her brother and babysitter.
Without stopping to think, Andrew sprinted to his daughter’s rescue, hauling her to safety over his fence before making sure her brother and the babysitter could get to safety too.
Alligator sightings aren’t uncommon in League City, but residents wouldn’t expect to look out for one at nearly 12 feet in length.
Andrew managed to film the gator from safely behind his fence in his back yard. He recalled how he’d jumped into action after sighting the reptile advancing towards his daughter, saying:
“It came straight up to the bulkhead, and then sunk back down. It was heading straight for her, no doubt.”
According to Andrew, he’d happened to be in his yard at the time, picking something up, and the gator was “not 10 yards” from Brandilyn. He said:
“Whether he was going to do anything, I don’t know, but I wasn’t going to take that chance.”
Andrew called on a professional to trap the alligator, who caught him instantly with the help of a few other people. According to TPWD, American alligators were once an endangered species in Texas, but they’re now a protected game animal.
They’re most commonly found in the eastern third of Texas, in swamps, marshes, rivers, and bayous. March through May is the peak time for alligator breeding and nesting, and even hatchling alligators are around 9 inches long. Alligator encounters are becoming more common in Texas as human populations continue to expand.
The gator had to be heaved out of the water on a couple of plywood boards, and it didn’t look like an easy job.
Andrew said that it took about 3 hours in total to capture and recover the reptile – unsurprisingly, as it reportedly weighed around 517 lbs. But it was a worthy capture, as Andrew was convinced that the gator wasn’t one of the friendlier beasts he’d come across. He said to CNN:
“He was by far the biggest one we’ve ever seen, and in fact, they have never done that before. Usually, they keep their distance, just pass by. You don’t even know they’re there, but this guy’s intentions were definitely a little different.”
This story ends happily for everyone, with news that the alligator is safe in Gator Country, an alligator farm in Texas. The farm was more than happy to welcome the beast into their family, especially as they had lost many of their alligators when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017.
Andrew and Brandilyn are excited to visit their unlikely friend in a much safer environment in the future.
Not everyone can say they came face to face with a 12-foot gator in the wild! You can watch video footage of the alligator being hauled out of the water behind Andrew’s home, plus interviews with Andrew and Brandilyn’s babysitter, in the video below.
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