girl checks storm-drain for missing cat finds two eyes staring back at her
waiting in the drain scat down on her hands and knees and crept closer to the
sewer drain anyone with any sense would tell her that it didn't end well for
kids looking for things in drains not red balloons or lost cats but she didn't
know that so she shimmied closer to the opening
never knowing the danger that was inching closer to her missing kitty the
girl was 12 year old Hannah Sylar and she was indeed looking for a lost cat in
her neighborhood of Pascagoula Mississippi when she decided that the
one place she hadn't yet looked was the storm drains outside her house somewhat
fortunately her cat was not in this particular drain but something else with
glowing yellow eyes was and it was looking right at her cats being cats the
family cat had not come home for dinner the night before and Hannah was beside
herself that he was lost and would never return home despite reassurance from her
dad and stepmom that he was probably just out catching mice or asleep
somewhere in a shady spot keeping out of the midday heat she insisted on going on
a search for her beloved kitty the search begins Halley her stepmom agreed
to accompany the Queen on her search of the neighborhood hoping that they'd
stumble upon the cat nearby and they could get out of the baking Sun sooner
rather than later they looked up trees and in bushes but no sign of the feline
was just upsetting Hannah more Hayley knew they had to find the cat soon or
Hannah would be upset for weeks shining eyes as he had a creep closer to
the dark storm drain she knew it was too big to be your cat but the eyes were so
captivating that she found herself wanting to know what kind of creature
was hiding right outside her bedroom window just a hop skip and jump away
what else could have beautiful eyes that all but shone in the dark a beast
luckily Hannah didn't get you close but she was close enough to see that the
huge animal was wedged and stuck in the drain facing straight up it was doomed
if the girl hadn't stumbled upon it she called to her stepmother nearby looking
down a different drain to come and see what she'd found she was about to give
that woman the fright of a lifetime a scary surprise
Hannah called Haley over to investigate what she'd found in the storm drain and
she looked inside to get the fright of a lifetime they're peering out of the
drain was an eerie pair of yellow eyes nothing could have prepared Haley for
what creature was lurking there in the darkness
screams hearing her screams and his next-door neighbor
Brooke snow ran outside and joined the growing group of people peering into the
drain the reaction was always the same a double-take and a hasty movement towards
their phone to snap an unbelievable photo it took a few bewildering moments
before Brooke thought to call animal control
Hannah piped up I was kind of surprised that it was in the sewer drain I yelled
for my neighbor to come take a look when asked about the events of the day
adults kept curious children away from the storm drain well animal control
officers were on their way to the scene the neighborhood was teeming with
youngsters playing outside on the hot Mississippi Day if Hannah hadn't spotted
the creature who knows what could have happened to any one of the kids in the
area a dinosaur what she found instead of a team kitty
was actually an alligator more than seven feet long we looked inside and
there was an alligator Brooke said at first we were like wait a minute so we
took a second glance then I took out my phone
took a picture and told the neighbors the alligator gave the family quite a
shock calling in reinforcements finally Animal Control arrived on the scene and
upon further investigation realized that they were out of their depth the Gator
was just too big to get out of the awkward space without specialist
equipment so Animal Control called in a pair of professional trappers to assist
with the capture it wouldn't be easy one big Gator
an alligator of that size seven feet weighs in at roughly 200 pounds and this
one was stuck vertically in the drain the two strong men were professional
trappers for a reason they were really good at what they did after securing a
pulled snare around the neck of the animal they began to pull it up through
the small opening at the top of the manhole a rescue mission this had become
a full-on alligator rescue mission the men pulled as the Gator thrashed and
death rolled to shake itself free from the snare then began snapping its jaws
to try to break free they carried on unperturbed by the prehistoric animals
attempts at freeing itself what felt like an eternity was actually a
relatively quick procedure dangerous work now came the dangerous part laying
the reptile on the grass the trappers now had to get up close and personal
with the mammoth beasts in order to restrain its short but powerful legs and
of course to wrap his most dangerous weapon shut if they could manage that
then it would be safe to transport or move him wherever he needed to go
experience pays off with smooth confident movements born of practice and
experience the trappers mounted the alligator and easily secured him so that
it would be safe to move him with a quick lift they loaded the Gator into a
van ready to be released beyond the city limits into a marsh nearby
don't feed Gators Doug Adams captain of the Pascagoula Police Department said
miss snow was right to call animal control you don't want to feed the
Gators even if they're in your yard you don't want to try and trap them yourself
he continued in a statement the poor animal was covered in sores from its
time in the sewer and no one knows how long he could have been trapped down
there an unusual place Pascagoula police captain Doug Adams
said we have a lot of alligators around Pascagoula because we're surrounded by
water but it's unusual to get one in a drainpipe
it was unfortunate it was there in a way but it was also fortunate that it was
there and not roaming people's yards thank goodness the child saw the
alligator because otherwise it would have died in that sewer we have no idea
how long it was our licensed rappers released it in the
wild according to the station it was successfully released and after the
excitement had died down city officials and residents alike began to share
pictures and videos on Facebook some people got some pretty great footage of
the entire capture such as Trevor Hodgins age 18 a student at Mississippi
Community College he said I was frightened but I've dealt with
alligators in the past we live in the south we see alligators pretty often but
I've never seen one in a sewer before a few of the comments from the videos
range from these scared to the quite funny mama can you believe this was
lurking so close one scared resident posted to her mother another asked
please name him Pennywise referring to Stephen King's horror clown character
from the book it who in one scene scaly lurks in the drain anyone who comes
across an alligator should make as much noise as possible and move away from the
animal if unable to escape an attack people should fight back by poking and
hitting the alligators eyes this is the advice given to all people in the area
when encountering an alligator or just run for your life