16 hours ago
A 9-Foot Alligator Walked Past a Texas Restaurant. The Photos Are Jaw-Dropping
The City of Gladewater is known as the "antique capital of East Texas."
So it's no surprise that the community attracts a lot of customers to its downtown restaurants.
Some of them were in for a surprise, though, when a nine-foot alligator decided to lumber past. The photos of it are jaw-dropping.
"Big thanks to Todd Long, Texas Game Warden, for his expertise!" wrote the Gladewater Police Department on its Facebook page. "With everyone working together, we safely escorted a 9'2" alligator from downtown Gladewater (400 block of South Tyler Street) back to its natural habitat in the Sabine River."
"The operation was completed without injury to officers, firefighters, or the animal. We're proud of the safe and professional response by all involved," police noted.
It happened near an establishment called Tele's restaurant, according to WVVA-TV.
That's a Mexican restaurant on Tyler Street,
According to WVVA, the gator drew a crowd to the restaurant's parking lot, and it was left to Gregg County Game Warden Todd Long to figure out what to do. He described the alligator to the television station as being "grumpy" and putting up quite a fight.
'Right there on the side of the road, pinned against a wrought iron fence. He was all there. He was right at 9 1/2 foot,' Long said to the television station.
Long posted photos of the massive gator to his Facebook page. "Thx Gladewater Police Department & Gladewater Fire Department for their overnight teamwork escorting from downtown safely back to the Sabine River," he wrote on Facebook of the joint effort to corral the alligator and remove it away from people.
'Probably the biggest one ever in a crowded situation. It was a concern. Not only because of the traffic, but there's the neighborhood there, pedestrians at times. The saving grace was probably that it was that late at night. There was light traffic,' Long said to the television station.
The alligator growled and tried to attack police and the warden, he told the television station.
'We finally got that grumpy alligator to roll out to the left, roll out to the right. Finally got it tired out, got his mouth taped,' Long said to WVVA. A 9-Foot Alligator Walked Past a Texas Restaurant. The Photos Are Jaw-Dropping first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 15, 2025
