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Gator Country gets assist in 4 hour struggle to pull gator from beneath concrete ditch in Beaumont

The alligator had tucked itself into a washed-out recess underneath the concrete slab that made up the north side of the drainage ditch running parallel to the street.

BEAUMONT — It took Gator Country, three local agencies, an excavator and four hours to capture a six to seven foot alligator that had wandered a little too close to a Beaumont neighborhood.

Just before 1 p.m., Thursday, Dan Browning, of Spring, who works at a business next to the ditch on 23rd Street in Beaumont just south of Laurel Street, was flagged down by two boys who told him there was an alligator in the ditch, his wife, Jean Browning, of Spring, told 12News.

When Browning saw the gator in the residential area, he snapped a picture and got to work.

First he called Gator Country, but was told he had to contact Texas Parks and Wildlife to get a complaint number before Gator Country could come remove the animal.

Once all of the calls were made, Gary Saurage of Gator Country had another issue to deal with: the gator's location.

The alligator had tucked itself into a washed-out recess underneath the concrete slab that made up the north side of the drainage ditch running parallel to the street.

Saurage had to call the city for help reaching the reptile and Beaumont Fire Rescue, Beaumont Animal Care and Drainage District Six all responded to the scene.

As if there weren't enough obstacles to overcome, Saurage realized that the hole he had been sticking his head and arms into was also occupied by a cotton mouth snake.

After moving debris to protect himself from the poisonous snake, Saurage and Beaumont firefighters got to work trying to capture the hidden alligator.

Firefighters placed a hose into a crack in the concrete and attempted to flush the gator out with water, but that didn't work.

By this point, the neighborhood had come out in droves to see the spectacle unfolding. A crowd had formed on each side of the drainage ditch as everyone waited to see the gator caught.

One woman in the crowd could be overheard saying "that's some good meat" while others expressed an interest that the gator be caught unharmed.

Then, firefighters used a sledgehammer to bang on the concrete, hoping to get the alligator to move towards the hole where Saurage was waiting.

When that didn't work Drainage District Six, who has authority over the ditch, brought in some heavy machinery in the form of an excavator to help with the efforts.

At first, the excavator was used to pound against the concrete, which Saurage said did get the alligator's attention, but it didn't move into a reachable position.

Finally, the excavator was used to create a hole large enough that Saurage was able to get a rope around the gator's neck and a cheer erupted as he pulled it into the crowd's view.

Understandably, the alligator didn't seem as happy as the onlookers and he thrashed about several times as he was pulled down the concrete embankment into the ditch.

The animal, now restrained and leashed, was walked and dragged a bit to the Gator Country truck and got to ride the sanctuary in the air-conditioned back seat of the truck's cab.

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