Hitting the hay: 8-foot alligator wanders into Texas stables

File photo. The owner of a horse stable had to call for help after an alligator was caught wandering in a stall.
Stable alligator: File photo. The owner of a horse stable in Texas had to call for help after an alligator was caught wandering in a stall. (Bob D'Angelo/Cox Media Group)

BEAUMONT, Texas — As the owner of a Texas-based adventure park, Gator Country founder Gary Saurage has seen his share of alligators. And while he has captured reptiles in pools, streets, backyards and even inside residences, a stable might be a new wrinkle.

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Tuesday at about 9:30 a.m. CT, Saurage received a call about an alligator inside Tyrrell Park Stables.

Saurage told KFDM that an alligator measuring nearly 8 feet long had hit the hay at Tyrell Park Stables in Beaumont.

And the alligator was not horsing around.

“This is my sixth call of the day,” Saurage told the television station.

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Saurage said heavy rains, along with the mating season, have sparked alligators to move around more than usual.

The reptiles are just “looking for love in all the wrong places,” Saurage told the television station.

A stable employee used a rope to lasso the reluctant gator and pulled it into an empty stall.

Saurage then safely removed the alligator, with the help of game wardens, and returned it to nearby Hillebrandt Bayou, KFDM reported.

Presumably, the alligator was in stable condition after she was set free.

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