Massive alligator captured in New Orleans neighborhood

Oct. 10 (UPI) -- An amateur wildlife trapper helped New Orleans police capture a massive alligator found wandering a residential neighborhood.

New Orleans police and firefighters descended on the Algiers Point neighborhood Saturday morning on a report of a large alligator stalking around the area.

Police and firefighters followed the gator from near the levee to an empty lot, where a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the commotion.

"I think they had a problem getting wildlife control," witness Abigal Amos, who shot video of the alligator, told WWL-TV.

Dave Graham, an arborist and amateur wildlife trapper who is often summoned by neighbors to help capture animals including alligators and snakes, arrived on the scene after hearing about the big gator.

Graham said police initially refused to allow him to help, but they changed their mind after about an hour of unsuccessful capture attempts.

"The police did not ask me to do it," Graham told The Advocate newspaper. "They said if I volunteered, they're not liable [for me]. And I said, 'Fine.'"

Graham helped police lead the alligator to tiring itself out so he could climb on its back and control the reptile while its mouth was taped shut and its legs were bound.

Graham said he hopes the alligator will eventually be released back into the wild.

"This thing was definitely big enough to take a person down or any animal it wanted," he said. "It was definitely not a slouch alligator."

The alligator's size was reported to be between 7 and 9 feet.