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By Natalie Venegas
Weekend Reporter
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Following heavy rains, an east Texas sheriff on Saturday warned pet owners of the rise in alligator sightings in residential areas.
Thunderstorms walloped east Texas throughout Saturday, prompting a surge in flood warnings, according to the National Weather Service. In Houston, the city received up to 6 inches of rain the first week of May, more than an inch above the area's average monthly rainfall for this month. In addition, excessive rainfall has boosted lake and reservoir water levels around the state.
Trinity County, near Huntsville, Texas, saw several areas flooded on Saturday. This comes after the county is still recovering from the excessive rainfall that came through about 1 1/2 weeks ago, leaving parts of the county underwater.
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Following last week's rain, officials issued mandatory evacuation notices for Doug Bell Road and the Deer Run subdivisions as county officials on boats went door-to-door to rescue residents and their pets from the hardest-hit areas.
On Saturday, Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said in a Facebook post that deputies have responded to numerous reports of alligators near homes as he warned pet owners to keep an eye on their pets.
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According to Wallace, the high water displaced part of the alligator population, causing many of the alligators to look for new homes.
"Most of them will move on; however, it is a good idea to keep your pets out of the gators' reach," Wallace said, while sharing a picture of a baby alligator, labeling it as a "9-foot monster."
Newsweek has reached out to Trinity County Sheriff's Office via email for comment on Monday.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, in spring and summer, alligators move to breed and find new habitats, adding that most of them are smaller and got pushed out by larger gators. The agency warns residents, though, that if you hear an alligator hiss, it's a warning that you are too close.
In March, a video of a gator sitting "a little too close for comfort" in a coastal park in southeast Texas went viral on TikTok. The video, posted by @ham.fishing, now has 1.7 million views since it was first shared. The video was taken at Sea Rim State Park, according to the location shared in the post.
The footage shows an alligator sprawled on a sandy beach. It appears to be chomping on a snack, which was a bull redfish, the poster said in a later comment.
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