Multiple alligator sightings reported across Cameron County following heavy rain
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Cameron County, TX (KRGV) — A small alligator turned up in a swimming pool in Laguna Vista on Wednesday, days after a 10-foot alligator turned up at a ranch in Bayview.
A 10-foot alligator hid in tall grass at Victoria Pease's ranch in Bayview over the weekend. Pease said her dog found the alligator, and she could see its tail sticking out of the grass.
“I came over here, double-checked it and I thought it was dead,” Pease said. “I was just afraid that it would jump out and go and attack me. I didn't realize he was even really alive.”.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department advised her to call SPI Birding Nature and Alligator Sanctuary. Crews from the sanctuary later picked up the gator, which put up a fight.
The 10-foot alligator was relocated to Laguna Atascosa.
Reinbolt believes the 10-foot alligator probably came from a nearby resaca. Channel 5 News cameras captured four alligators with their heads above water in a resaca near Pease's ranch.
“Bayview is full of alligators. From Laguna Atascosa through Bayview and from north of San Benito through the Los Fresnos area, that entire stretch of land is full of alligators,” educator and licensed nuisance alligator trapper Jacob Reinbolt said. “It has a lot of fresh water. It is a perfect habitat for them.”
Reinbolt says heavy rainfall can cause alligators to move from one area to another. He says he was also called about a small alligator in a swimming pool in Laguna Vista.
Alligator experts say people should be careful when they walk in tall grass or near bushes. An alligator becomes a nuisance alligator when it threatens livestock or people.
Only someone with a nuisance alligator permit can remove a nuisance alligator. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says people who see an alligator on their property can call 512-389-4848 for help getting connected with a nuisance alligator trapper.
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