Dayton gator could be biggest ever captured in Texas

A pair of alligator hunters from Beaumont are already getting congratulations from across the country for their catch, a 13-foot, 8-inch beast that could be the biggest ever captured live in Texas. And, they're going to let Facebook users vote on a name. less A pair of alligator hunters from Beaumont are already getting congratulations from across the country for their catch, a 13-foot, 8-inch beast that could be the biggest ever captured live in Texas. And, they're ... more Photo: Stuart Marcus Photo: Stuart Marcus Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Dayton gator could be biggest ever captured in Texas 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

For the second time in as many months, the community of Dayton, Texas, is being put on the map for record-setting alligator captures. In late September, bow hunter Lee Sanford of Tarkington killed a massive 13-foot, 8.5 inch alligator on Day Lake south of Dayton.

On Wednesday, Gary Saurage and Arlie Hammonds, co-owners of Gator Country in Beaumont, and college interns, Johnny Korpela and Daniel Navarro, captured another 13-foot, 8-inch alligator from Champion Lake in the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge, off of FM 1409 south of Dayton. This time, the gator was taken alive.

"We were called to Champion Lake to remove a number of alligators that have been coming up to the boat dock and getting really close to people," Saurage said. "When we went over to the refuge this morning, we realized there are several alligators we need to move but this one in particular came up to the boat dock like we were told it would do."

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The four men baited the alligator to swim into rope lassos they had placed in the water.

"When we finally got the alligator lassoed, there were four of us standing on the bank and I was nearly pulled into the water," Saurage said. "We were able to tie the ropes off to a tree until we were able to attach the ropes to a truck. Then we pulled him up the embankment using the truck. It took every one of us to capture this animal. It's unreal how strong these alligators are."

The alligator was then relocated to Gator Country, a 20-acre facility on 21159 FM 365 in Beaumont where it was released into a natural habitat alongside 450 other large alligators, most of which were nuisance animals previously.

Until Wednesday, the largest alligator Saurage had ever captured alive was 12 feet, two inches. Saurage said a contest is under way now to pick a name for the record-setting alligator.

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"We are going to name the alligator but we are putting it out there on Facebook to let the community help us decide the name," he said.

In his 20 years as a licensed nuisance alligator hunter, Saurage has captured hundreds but today's catch is one he will not forget.

"This is the pinnacle of our success," he said. "I've got every alligator park in the country calling to congratulate us on the capture."

Saurage and his team were first notified about the massive alligators by Stuart Marcus, director of the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge.

Marcus said his agency had received complaints from visitors about alligators that had lost their fear of humans.

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"I witnessed it the other day during the Big Sit (a birding event). There were some people who had been crabbing. One alligator came up to a woman and she ran. It was very dangerous," Marcus said. "We got in touch with Gator Country and they agreed to come out and take a look. I told them there were some 13-foot alligators and they were like, 'Sure, right.' When they came out this morning, they got to see for themselves."

Marcus believes the alligator is a state record for live capture.

"It was rather exciting to see the alligator captured but we would have preferred to let it live out its entire life at Champion Lake, but his aggressive nature became a problem and this was the best compromise before loss of life for a person or the alligator," he said.

Saurage believes that most alligator attacks are the result of human behavior.

"Ninety percent of all alligator attacks are because people have been feeding them," he said. "We are not done yet at Champion Lake. There are another 4-6 alligators coming up to the dock because people have been feeding them. We would have captured more today but we wanted to get this guy back to our park in and the water before he was harmed."

Texas Game Warden Randy Button agrees that human behavior can trigger alligator attacks.

"First it is illegal to capture an alligator alive unless you are a licensed nuisance alligator catcher.

Second, do not feed the alligators. The alligators will start to associate people with food. Plus it is against the law," Button said. "Just leave them alone. They are our last living dinosaurs."