A Texas dad made sure his daughter got to her first day of middle school on time, even with an alligator blocking their home's doorstep.
According to KPRC-TV, Mike Trinh thought his youngest daughter Caitlyn was only joking when she told him an alligator was hanging outside their front door.
Trinh, who owns and operates a seafood restaurant in Houston, described his close encounter with the huge reptile in a Facebook post. He wrote on social media that it was his youngest daughter's first day in middle school.
Texas dad uses Steve Irwin tactics to capture the gator
As she was about to go to the car, she ran back, telling her dad that there was an alligator at the front door. Trinh said that since this was the first day of school, he thought she was playing. It was no joke, though, as just like his daughter explained, there was indeed an unexpected visitor at their doorstep.
Trinh added in his Facebook post that he figured he could deal with any wildlife as long as it ain't a stingray, given all the years he has been watching Steve Irwin. He then set about implementing the steps he had learned from years watching the late great, according to 9News.
The restaurant owner threw a towel on the alligator's head to calm his scaly visitor down so he could take his children to school. Trinh then made a move that the Crocodile Hunter would surely be proud of.
He got on the gator's back and held its mouth closed in a daring maneuver. He then enlisted the help of his 19-year-old daughter to tape the alligator's mouth shut with duct and jiu-jitsu tape. Trinh said he successfully captured the gator thanks to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Steve Irwin tactics.
Trinh becomes an instant celebrity after gator exploits
He told ABC13 that he called the Missouri City Police Department, Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and a local game warden about the gator, but nobody came to deal with it. The amateur alligator wrangler and his friend then loaded the big reptile in the back of a truck before releasing it into a nearby pond.
Trinh said that he was glad his daughters got pictures of the encounter. He thinks that if his daughter told her friends at school about their gator capture, they probably would not believe her story.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said that alligators are common in parts of the state, but they have a natural fear of humans and will typically retreat when they are approached.
They made it clear, though, that what Trinh did was dangerous. They reminded people in Texas who encounter in a non-emergency situation a potential nuisance alligator to call the dispatch center of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Law Enforcement Communications. Feeding and harassing alligators is a Class C misdemeanor in Texas.
