RICHMOND, Texas – An alligator that was discovered in a Richmond subdivision has a new home in Montgomery County after days of it being tied to a tree.
No one seems to know who tied it to the tree, but people in that neighborhood are more focused on letting everyone know what it took to get rid of it.
It’s against the law to bother alligators in the State of Texas without a license because they are a protected species, but some unknown person used a rope to tie it to a tree. It stayed here for days until the property owner called in an expert to have it removed.
On Saturday, Westpark Lakes HOA president, Bernadette Plummer says she learned about the six-and-a-half-foot alligator tethered near the detention pond.
“What are we going to do with this alligator?” she says she thought to herself.
She says she started making calls to animal control, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the game warden, and Municipal Utility District or MUD 50 which owns the land. Initial efforts to try and have it removed didn’t get her very far.
“Everybody is telling me to call somebody else, and so that’s where the frustration part comes in because if we have an alligator that’s a safety hazard to our community, who are we supposed to call?,” she asked.
Plummer says she eventually learned the responsibility falls on MUD 50 because it owns the property where the gator was. She says after pressing them again and again, they finally hired a professional wildlife trapper Monday.
AAAC Wildlife Removal owner, Brian Moss says he showed up right away.
“I pulled him out of the water and just quickly jumped on him, taped him up, subdued him,” Moss said.
Moss says he took the gator to Montgomery County and released it into the San Jacinto River.
“He was perfectly fine, got down in the water and swam away and was happy as can be,” he said.
Plummer believes there are other alligators in the pond. She hopes this story pushes MUD 50 to come up with a faster protocol to have gators removed should they pop up there again.
If you see a gator on your property, Moss says it is your responsibility to have it removed.
You can call the alligator hot line at 281-688-2435.
Moss says he charges between $500 and $1,500 depending on the circumstances. The number for AAAC wildlife removal is 281-292-8866.