A Texas homeowner expecting nothing more than a quiet morning walk instead found an unexpected visitor on his front porch: an alligator he initially mistook for an Amazon package.
Police officers in Fulshear, a suburb of Houston, responded to the home after the resident discovered the reptile resting outside his door. According to police, the homeowner did not realize what was on the porch until he accidentally struck it with his screen door.
Body-camera video released by the department shows the alligator lying motionless on the concrete porch while the homeowner recounted the encounter to responding officers.
“I banged into him with the screen door, and I go, ‘I thought it was an Amazon package’,” the homeowner told police.
The alligator remained on the porch as officers approached and assessed the situation. Police then captured the animal and transported it by squad car to a nearby body of water, where it was released.
Authorities said recent heavy rainfall in the region may have contributed to the unusual encounter by forcing wildlife to seek higher, drier ground.
“With all the heavy rain we’ve been getting lately, it seems the gators are on the move,” the police department said in a statement. “This little fella decided to skip the swamp and upgrade to porch life this morning.”
Last month, Fulshear police officers were called upon to wrangle an alligator from a homeowner’s swimming pool.
Police urged residents to keep their distance from alligators and other displaced wildlife and to contact authorities rather than attempting to intervene themselves.
“If you see an unexpected visitor like this around your home, give it plenty of space and let us handle it,” the department said. “Apparently, even the gators are looking for higher ground these days!”
