At first Alexis Harmon said she thought her kids were playing a prank on her…until she saw the gator blink.
HOUSTON — Imagine opening your front door to find a massive gator less than a step away!
That’s what happened to a Clear Lake woman on Wednesday, and she has the photos and videos to prove it.
She said at first when she saw the 8-foot gator, she didn’t think it was real.
“Thought one of my kids was playing a trick on me when I opened the front door this morning…until she breathed and blinked at me,” Clear Lake resident Alexis Harmon told us.
You can see the capture in the video above.
Harmon said she called police and three squad cars showed up. Alligator trapper Tim DeRamus was also called and managed to wrangle the big gator.
“The deal is, is you’re going to see an alligator at this time of year,” DeRamus said. “You touch her and she’s gonna hiss. She’ll hiss loud.”
He said this time of year it’s not uncommon to see them in neighborhoods that have lakes and community ponds. They’re looking for bodies of water and mates.
Around this time every year, DeRamus said he catches around 100 of them.
He says if you see a gator, keep your distance and call for help.
“The main thing about these animals is they’re not attacking animals. They’re not going to just run out and attack you,” DeRamus said.
In the meantime, the alligators he catches get to stay at his home, though just for a night. After that, he takes them to rescue parks where they’ll be cared for.
“I get to wake up and do what I love to do,” DeRamus said.
You may have heard about DeRamus. We’ve met up with him on many occasions while he was out trapping gators. He’s featured in this KHOU 11+ special, ‘Gators Galore,’ showing scenes of alligator sightings around southeast Texas.
