Warner runs the alligator program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. But laws don’t always consider it cruelty. Some people can’t sleep if they know there’s a spider in their house. While death personified can give you a good scare at the movies, the real horror is income inequality. Big Tex, a 14-foot, 1,000-pound alligator — the biggest ever caught in the United States — was minding his own business when Tropical Storm Imelda flooded his home in Gator Country. © ScienceAlert Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. This article was originally published by The Washington Post. This is the hardest battle I’ve ever fought in my life.”. A number of small alligators are still missing, but those are "mostly just three-, four- and five-footers," Warner said. Flooding had caused the water to rise above the four-foot fences. Maybe we can all work together on our command presence. ", A number of small alligators are still missing, but those are "mostly just three-, four- and five-footers," Warner said. Gator Country confirmed he had been located early Friday afternoon and was "being moved back. The investigation is the same type of inquiry launched by state officials in 2019, leading to the effort to oust Houston ISD’s elected school board. It took almost a week for the floodwaters to recede and for officials to determine Big Tex was missing from the park, which bills itself as the largest alligator adventure park/sanctuary in Southeast Texas. (Dennis Demcheck/U.S. Police say an expert from Florida captured the elusive alligator in a public lagoon at Humboldt Park early Tuesday. This is the largest alligator ever captured in the state of Texas by more than 5 inches, a new state record, and the gator is now aptly being named ‘Big Tex’. "The water just won't leave," Saurage, an alligator trapper for the state of Texas, said, then added: "Southeast Texas, we love you. Big Tex will live out the rest of its life at Gator Country, where it will not be threatened by humans. Jon Warner. Geological Survey), MATTHEW CAPPUCCI & BRITTANY SHAMMAS, THE WASHINGTON POST, deputies had to wrangle one gator out of a house. Gator Country opened to the public in 2005. [Thumbs down] In a horror movie coming out this month called “Countdown,” people download an app that predicts when they are going to die. With over 450 dealers nationwide, your next trailer is closer than you think. Warner said Gator Country is at "80 percent capacity" in locating the reptiles that were initially reported missing after Imelda's drenching. The board is separate from the newsroom and other sections of the paper. On Sept. 23, Saurage returned to Facebook to report Big Al, a gator who previously held Big Tex’s record, was safe and sound in his enclosure at the park. In a statement, HISD officials said the appeal “was submitted in good faith.” Call it a chronicle of a takeover foretold. Warner runs the alligator program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. “But when the water level went down, Big Tex wasn’t there.” Warner said that if the gator had left the premises, “he’d probably stay in the immediate vicinity.” On Friday afternoon, Big Tex was found near a pond on the 15-acre sanctuary’s property. Owner Gary Saurage told weather.com the water was waist-high late last week. (Dennis Demcheck/U.S. Editorial: Grand jury in Breonna Taylor case made the right call. Now Big Tex's story has a happy ending, as well. In the wake of major storms, it’s not unusual for animals to wind up in places they wouldn’t otherwise be. Warner has been in his job since 2017. Massive Gator ‘Big Tex’ Missing from Reptile Sanctuary After Imelda. The search for Big Tex came during the height of Texas's alligator-hunting season, which runs from Sept. 10 through Sept. 30. Texas harvests the third-highest number of alligators in the nation, behind only Florida and Louisiana. When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, about 50 gators were captured after springing loose from Gator Country, the Beaumont Enterprise reported. The Editorial Board is made up of opinion journalists with wide-ranging expertise whose consensus opinions and endorsements represent the voice of the institution – defined as the board members, their editor and the publisher. A photo showed the animal lounging on a rug. "But when the water level went down, Big Tex wasn't there." Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer. Big Tex, the largest alligator in Texas state history, is being relocated to Gator Country. Warner said that if the gator had left the premises, "he'd probably stay in the immediate vicinity." On Friday afternoon, Big Tex was found near a pond on the 15-acre sanctuary's property. The search for Big Tex came during the height of Texas’s alligator-hunting season, which runs from Sept. 10 through Sept. 30. A Midwest native, Warner holds a PhD he earned for studying in Africa about how alligators can serve as indicators of an ecosystem's health. Gary Saurage, their owner, said Gator Country found Big Tex around 1 p.m. Friday, September 27. Fortunately, after a nerve-racking few days, that gator has been found.