Alligator Captured Behind Dallas Middle School
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - There was an unusual find behind a Dallas school early Wednesday morning. An alligator was discovered behind STEAM Middle School in south Dallas. The animal was said to be between six and seven feet long. It was spotted at around 2:00 a.m. by a Dallas County Sheriff's Office deputy.
It took several Dallas police officers and a Dallas County game warden to wrangle the gator using catch poles and load it into the back of a truck. City official Emily Black said on Twitter that, "The only injury was a bent, twisted pole."
Dallas County game warden Jamie Sanchez added that hooking the animal's neck and taping its mouth shut is "the hardest and most dangerous part of capturing an alligator." The gator was taken away by the game warden to be released in a wilderness preserve.
South Dallas isn't exactly alligator territory, but the reptile was found near South Polk Street and East Danieldale Road, close to Interstate-20 and Interstate-35E, which has several creeks nearby. Sanchez suspects that the animal wandered away from the Trinity River.
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