Watch as squirmy 3-foot alligator refuses to surrender to deputy on Louisiana patio

A feisty 3-foot alligator took over a Louisiana family’s patio, and video shows a comical wrestling match erupted when a sheriff’s deputy tried picking it up.

Kirsten Lawrence of Benton reports the young gator showed up “sunbathing by the pool” Tuesday, Aug. 23, prompting fears its “friends” might be nearby. Benton is about 15 miles north of Shreveport.

A trio of Bossier Parish sheriff’s deputies quickly showed up to remove it, and Lawrence’s video shows they had little trouble sneaking up on the gator and taping its mouth shut.

However, that just made it angry.

The instant one deputy lifted it, the alligator is seen flailing uncontrollably, nearly smacking the deputy in the head a few times.

It’s the deputy who eventually surrenders, dropping the gator to the ground with a “splat.” The deputy then uses one foot to hold it down while catching his breath.

“I think I’d stand in front of a bullet before I’d wrestle with that thing,” one witness is heard saying in the video.

The video ends with the deputy making a second attempt to grab the gator and meeting the same level of resistance.

Details of how long it took to eventually bring the reptile under control were not released, but photos show it ended up shoved into a cage for release in the Bodcau Wildlife Management area near Benton.

The video had racked up more than 24,000 views and hundreds of reactions on Facebook as of Aug. 24, including a lot of jokes about the alligator being denied its rights.

“That joker acts like it’s methed out,” David Kendall wrote.

“Dude just throws it down and steps on it ...,” Jason Hilton posted.

The three deputies were identified as Steve Hoff, Connor McLaughin and Austin Mueller, who was the one stuck trying to hold the alligator.

“Many of our animal calls range from loose livestock, horses, and dogs, and sometimes alligators,” Sheriff Julian Whittington said in a release.

“Our deputies just have to be prepared for almost any call that comes in, because you never know what the day will bring.”

The age of the alligator was unknown, but babies are 8 to 9 inches at the time of hatching, the state says. The largest adults can “exceed 13 feet” and weigh more than 500 pounds in Louisiana, officials say.

This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Watch as squirmy 3-foot alligator refuses to surrender to deputy on Louisiana patio."