HOUMA, La. — When an alligator walked into the Upper Little Caillou School in Terrebonne Parish, the staff knew who to call, Officer Donald Aubrey.
Video posted to the Houma Police Facebook page shows Aubrey capturing the gator, shortly after arriving on the scene.
“I asked for something to help push his mouth closed,” Aubrey said. “He was aggressive for a little dude. He was aggressive.”
Aubrey is the same lawman who wrestled with a 12-and-a-half-foot python that slithered out of a bayou into a Houma backyard this past weekend.
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Catching critters comes naturally for the outdoorsman officer but he admits a dangerous snake that large did grab his attention.
“Stay calm and get it done, so that I can remove him safely because I know it being a python it’s not from the area and Lord knows we don’t want the same thing Florida is going through right now,” Aubrey said.
Houma Police Chief Travis Theriot thanked Aubrey for his quick thinking and professionalism.
“When they say there’s no routine call, you never know what you’re going to get next,” Theriot said. “You go from a 12-and-a-half-foot python to a four-foot alligator.”
The chief says while Aubrey was just doing his duty to protect and serve, he deserves the newfound notoriety he’s been receiving from the recent animal encounters posted on social media.
“All of our officers do a good job, but I think recently, he made himself Facebook famous,” Theriot said.
Aubrey says his fellow officers here at the Houma PD have given him a new nickname, “reptile wrangler.” It’s a name he gladly accepts.
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“I signed up to keep the community safe, no matter what it takes and regardless of my own fears, whatever, the safety of the community comes first,” Aubrey said.
Chief Theriot told WWL Louisiana, Officer Aubrey is a good candidate for Terrebonne Parish’s employee of the month.
“We’ll see how that works out for him. I think he’s a lot of people’s hero right now.”
Aubrey said he released the small alligator back into the bayou.
As for the python, it was turned over to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and it will not return to the wild.
See side-by-side comparison of the two captures in the video below:
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