Alligator Hunting

Last month during my annual three week trip home to Texas, I did a little alligator ('gator) hunting with some friends of mine a few miles outside of Houston.

Yes, there are gators in Texas, even near big cities. Many of my Austrian friends find that hard to believe, just like they find my stories about guns and snakes in Texas hard to believe. Here's some photo proof of gators in Texas:
This Brazos Bend State Park link has a few good pictures of some native Texas alligators. Brazos Bend is a Texas state park some miles outside of Houston.

Alligator is also on the menu in some Texas Cajun (Acadian) restaurants. I've eaten it once or twice before -- it's a white, tender meat with a pleasant flavor. Cajun in Wien

I'd like to clear something up before I continue with the story. When I talk about hunting alligators, I don't mean trying to kill or harm them, I just mean trying to capture one, take a few pictures and then release it later, unharmed.

The occasion for our alligator hunt was a going-away party for a friend of ours (I'll call him Flau) who has since moved to Hawaii. The party started out at another friend's ranch (I'll call him Chakka). At the ranch for the party were ~8 guys (we tried to convince the girls to come out, to no avail), 20+ guns of all different makes, calibres and sizes, two pickup trucks, a herd of cattle and a small river that is home to at least one family of alligators (I'll talk about guns in more detail in another, later post -- I'm waiting on a couple of pictures before I do).

After we filled a few targets (an old air conditioner, a broken car wheel, some tanks and various other trash) with bullet holes, Flau decided it was time to hunt 'gators. To catch an alligator without harming it, or being harmed by it, it's best to use some kind of pole snare. Flau made his own pole snare out of a length of plastic pipe and some cable. His design was pretty ingenious.

Properly equipped, we headed off to a part of the river where Chakka had seen an alligator den previously (fourth picture down). When we reached the den, we found that it had caved in, but we knew there were still alligators in the area.

We made our way slowly through the heavy brush right along the bank of the river. Standing near the edge of a river that's home to alligators can be dangerous. When gators hunt, they like to wait just under water at the bank, then they rush out and surprise unsuspecting prey (last picture). When a 'gator catches an animal on the bank, it drags the prey underwater to drown it. After the animal drowns, the 'gator puts it in a specially created underwater "pocket" carved out of the bank. The 'gator leaves the prey in this pocket for several days, allowing it to decompose and soften. After the prey has sufficiently softened, the alligator finally gets to eat its catch. It may have been dangerous to walk along the bank, but you have to get close to a 'gator if you want to catch it.

Not far from the caved-in den, Flau spotted the first 'gator. He pointed it out to me, across the river, but I wasn't convinced. All I could see was muddy water, some fallen tree limbs and a small knot sticking out of the water that could have been part of a tree limb. Flau was certain it was a 'gator, but it was too far across the river to reach with his pole snare. Scanning the water closely, Flau spotted another 'gator, this one much closer. Again, I wasn't sure. When a gator is resting in the water, the only visible parts are the tip of its nose and its forehead/eyes. From a distance, these look like they might be sticks or some other trash in the water.

Even though the second alligator was closer to our side of the river, it was still too far out to reach with the pole snare. Flau considered climbing out over the river on a fallen tree, but decided against it. As we stood at the bank, considering our options, and looking for a 'gator that was close enough to snag, I saw the first 'gator move. For 10 minutes it had sat still, and I was still not sure it was a 'gator, but when it started swimming, I was convinced.

It began to grow dark and we still hadn't spotted any 'gators close enough to snare, so we ended the hunt. We didn't catch an alligator that day, but we had a good time trying.

Cajun in Wien: There used to be a cajun restaurant here in Wien (Vienna), but it looks like they're only doing catering and parties now. That's a shame -- they had a nice Sunday brunch, complete with live Zydeco music. If they open the restaurant again, I recommend a visit.