It all happened at the Katy Freeway near Katy-Fort Bend Road and Eyewitness News was there for the capture.
It's not what you want to come face-to-face with unexpectedly. Just ask Joe McWhorter.
"It's surprising. I work right back here, and I'm surprised to see this one coming out of this grass. It is a nice size, especially for him to just come out of these weeds," McWhorter said.
But McWhorter was lucky. While a deputy stopped traffic so the gator wouldn't get run over, a self-proclaimed alligator hunter showed up, along with several officials with Katy Animal Control. What happened next answers the age-old question: How many people does it take to grab a gator?
First, you've got to get him to come out from under the truck; that takes at least two people. Then, you lasso him which doesn't always work on the first try. As you can see, gators don't like to be caught.
Finally, two men are able to lasso him and wrestle him out into the sunlight, with the gator kicking and fighting all the way. And that's when it helps to double the manpower.
The gator hunter grabs the reptile and wraps rope around his jaws first, then pulls out the all-purpose weapon -- duct tape. Another brave soul holds the gator's mouth shut and even puts his foot on the gator's head.
Two others with animal control help lasso the gator's legs. As for McWhorter, he has only one observation now that the reptile is gift-wrapped.
"He looks pretty good. His tail's got good meat in it," McWhorter told us.
Katy Animal Control took the gator away and transferred the animal to the Fort Bend County game warden.
So the answer to the question of how many people does it take to catch a gator? At least four people and some duct tape.
