KATY – A huge 10.7-foot male alligator was spotted just leisurely strolling along a residential fence in the Cinco Ranch area Monday morning.
After the gator refused to go back into the nearby Buffalo Bayou, a pro was called in.
A few nifty moves later, the gator was gone.
Amid a crowd of about two dozen onlookers, Timothy DeRamus with Bayou City Gator Savers did what he’s been doing professionally for the past nine years.
“Their intention is to hide under grass and stuff,” DeRamus said. “I’d say I’ve caught about 2,500 to 3,000 alligators.”
Around 11 a.m. after being called by Fort Bend County Officials to S Peak Road near Buffalo Bayou for reports of a nuisance alligator, he settled into his normal routine.
“He was up against the brick wall and I lassoed him with a horse lasso that I have and we pulled him up against the tree to make him flip and turn to tire himself out. He got real tired,” DeRamus said.
But even though the gator was exhausted, DeRamus had no time to rest.
“We were able to pull him tighter to the tree and then I was able to kneel on him with my knee and secure his mouth shut with some tape,” he said.
Eventually, the green giant was hoisted up by a tow truck and placed into the back of DeRamus’ pickup and then hauled off to an unusual resting place
“He’s actually in my front yard,” DeRamus said.
A pit stop for the gator, who DeRamus plans to put with some good company.
“I gotta catch two more. I gotta go to Galveston tonight to catch one, then I got to go to Pearland to catch a smaller one,” he said.
Tuesday, the plan is to take all three to a rescue park called Gator Country in the Beaumont area, where they will live out their lives amongst others with all the care they need.
DeRamus believes that the male gator he wrestled Monday is about 50 years old and weighs at least a thousand pounds. With the neighborhood he removed it from being so close to the bayou, residents say they’ve seen gators in the area before.
You can visit DeRamus’ Facebook page by searching Bayou City Gator Savers for more information just in case you happen to need his services.