(CNN) — Andrew Grande did not hesitate before taking action when he saw a huge alligator addressing his 4-year-old daughter.
“When I first saw him, all I was thinking about was reaching my daughter, getting her out of the way,” he said. “What her intentions were, I’m not 100% sure, but I wasn’t going to find out.”
The girl was with her brother and a babysitter by a canal behind her home in late July, Grande told CNN, fishing and catching crabs. When her father saw the 3.5-meter (nearly 12-foot) alligator heading toward them, he said he ran off, carried his daughter, and carried the babysitter and son toward the fence of their home.
He says he then threw his daughter over the fence to a safe place when the alligator approached her feet.
“It was by far the largest we’ve seen, and in fact, they had never done this before. They usually keep their distance, they just pass, “said the League City, Texas, resident. “You don’t even know they’re there, but this guy’s intentions were definitely a little bit different.”
The alligator was 11 feet seven inches long (3.5 meters) and weighed about 270 kilograms (600 pounds), Grande said.
“It was so big that if I had jumped I would have broken the fence, it was that heavy,” Grande said.
But when the father quickly crossed behind his home fence, the alligator retreated and returned several times, he recalled.
“This lasted for at least 20 to 30 minutes,” said Grande.
He called a conservation agent, who said the scenario was unusual, as alligators generally like to stay away from people. The alligator finally disappeared and made no other entrance until Grande’s daughter came out to the fence with her father.
Soon, the alligator hunter the family had called made his way to the house, and eventually the animal was captured with the help of several people.
Five hours after Grande first saw the alligator, they took him alive and moved him to Gator Country, where they told the brave father that they were excited to receive the animal because they had lost most of their alligators when Hurricane Harvey hit. .
At some point, Grande says she plans to take her children to Gator Country to see the alligator.
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