Angry gator

Mark M. Hancock / © NewsEagles

Big Al, the largest captive alligator in Texas, defends his territory at Gator Country in Fannett, Texas on Saturday, March 22, 2008.

Wetland Walkway re-opens

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

The Wetland Walkway on the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge near Hackberry, Louisiana had its official reopening on Wednesday, March 19, 2008. The refuge was destroyed by Hurricane Rita and required major reconstruction.

See a larger version of this slidshow.

Please read, "Reopened trail reveals nature's resilience..." by Christine Rappleye.

Gator Grabbin' Champion

Jonathan Hancock, my nephew, momentarily loses his grip a 5'9" alligator he pulled from a pond during a Gator Grabbin' Contest at Gator Country in Fannett, Texas on Saturday, March 22, 2008. Hancock won the largest gator category of the contest. It was his first time trying to catch alligators.

© Mark M. Hancock / NewsEagles



video by © Mark M. Hancock / NewsEagles

Jonathan Hancock catches a 5' 9" gator during a Gator Grabbin' Contest at Gator Country in Fannett, Texas on Saturday, March 22, 2008. Hancock won the largest gator category of the contest. It was his first time trying to catch alligators.

My brother found out Gator Country would have its last Gator Grabbin' Contest this weekend. He registered himself and his youngest son for the competition. Neither have tried to catch gators before.

Since it was Easter weekend, we needed my sister here as well to make it a family reunion.

We expected my brother and nephew to get chewed on and get a once-in-a-lifetime story. We thought one might possibly catch a baby gator. Nobody expected my nephew to reach into a blind gator den and pull out the biggest gator of the competition.

My nephew spent most of his spring break in Katy competing in a robot challenge sponsored by NASA. His next adventure is to travel to Miami to defend his team's high school National BattleBot Championship title. I won't be traveling with them, but they expect to win again this year and destroy every other robot in the competition.

Needless to say, we're all quite proud of him. :-)

Gator Country expansion

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Big Al catches some rays in his pond while work continues on a new, full-service restaurant at Gator Country in Fannett on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007. The theme park will reopen on March 1 and the restaurant will open April 15, 2008.


One of two new Nile Crocodiles lays in the sun at Gator Country in Fannett.


Gator Country owner Gary Saurage (right) directs Steven Parr (in backhoe) as they move a gift shop at the theme park.


Cold-blooded alligators try to absorb sunlight at Gator Country.

These were shot right after a cold front, so the gators and crocs were moving slowly. Don't get this close to a Nile Croc unless it's cold.

Please see the Gator grabbin' contest video at Gator Country from this summer.

Gatorfest 2007

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

Visitors examine stuffed gator heads by Robert W. Snowden during the annual Texas Gatorfest at Fort Anahuac Park in Anahuac on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2007.


Children examine an alligator during the annual Texas Gatorfest at Fort Anahuac Park. The festival celebrates the Texas alligator hunting season. Gator season lasts only 20 days in 22 Texas counties.



Visitors take a ride in an airboat during the annual Texas Gatorfest at Fort Anahuac Park. The festival offers cash prizes to hunters for the largest and most alligators captured during the event.



Darrin Jackson, a GatorFest official, checks out the mouth of a large gator during the annual Texas Gatorfest at Fort Anahuac Park. Hunting gators requires a special permit.

Big gator

Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A large alligator prowls for food in the Sabine River near Orange between Texas and Louisiana on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007.

Gator Grabbin' Contest

Video © Mark M. Hancock / NewsEagles.com

Each year, alligator wranglers gather at Gator Country in Fannett, Texas to see how many gators they can grab from a pond in 15 minutes. The gators are later tagged and released back into the pond.

Gary Saurage, co-owner of Gator Country and opening narrator, gets bit at about 2:00. Since folks across the pond are unaquainted with the reptilian man-eaters. I cut one scene and deleted the comment and response.

Gator Country has a special license and is responsible for the safety of each animal. They have a high-quality show and the animals are well maintained. This is part of why they must tag them each year. The tag actually protects the gators during floods.

This is part of the "Movie Mondays" series. Please take a moment to click the Google Video link on the video player and vote for this video (or my others). Even if it's only worth one star to you, please vote. A video's overall rank is determined by how many people vote at all. Thanks. :-)

Golfin' with gators

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

An alligator relaxes near a fairway at The Palms at Pleasure Island Golf Course in Port Arthur on Wenesday, May 9, 2007. During this time of the year, gators are more active as they look to mate. Consequently, they are more likely to be in unpredictable locations.


(Left) Golfers continue their game as an alligator relaxes in a water hazard at The Palms golf course on Pleasure Island.

(Below) An alligator chills in a water hazard at The Palms at Pleasure Island Golf Course.




Please read "...Watch your step" by Christine Rappleye.

Smith Oaks bird sanctuary

Two roseate spoonbills argue for branch space at the Smith Oaks bird sanctuary in High Island on Thursday, April 12, 2007.

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise





(Above) A great egret rests on a branch at the Smith Oaks bird sanctuary in High Island.

(Right) A snowy egret rests on a branch at the Smith Oaks bird sanctuary.





(Above) An alligator hunts for dinner at the Smith Oaks bird sanctuary. Gators keep marauding animals such as raccoons from raiding the nests for eggs.

(Right) A great egret guards its chicks at the Smith Oaks bird sanctuary.

Gator Country cleanup

Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise
An alligator surfaces for a snack during a Gator Country cleanup effort at the theme park in Fannett on Saturday, June 3, 2006.


Gator Country co-owner Sarah Saurage throws a hot dog into the mouth of Kong during a cleanup effort at the theme park in Fannett. The park was seriously flooded by last weekend's rains and almost necessitated the evacuation of some alligators.


Volunteer Vudika Camp (left) of Daisetta, Texas has a staring contest with Big Al (right), a 13-foot alligator, as Camp moves dirt during a Gator Country cleanup effort at the theme park. One of the trees crashed into the fence during the storm. After the tree was uprighted, dirt had to be replaced to let it take root again. Big Al didn't appreciate the work.


Gator Country co-owner Gary Saurage restores a water pump during a cleanup effort at the theme park. The pump filters the water to keep algae from growing in the gator residential ponds. The park is open and ready for visitors again.

Please also see Fay's Gator Country images from July.
 

Cameron two months later

Not much has changed in Cameron, La. Since the last time we visited. Houses had been removed from roadways, but personal homes still remained as artifacts of a hurricane's destruction. The area is still off limits to residents. Only emergency personnel and specific contractors are allowed into the area.

Some signs of the future are visible. The ferry runs regularly. Birds are hunting in the marshes again. Dolphins breach the canal for air as they hunt for fish.

However, it will be a long time before anything close to "normal" returns. The court house is still surrounded by FEMA tents and portable toilets. Without customers, there's no point in shops rebuilding. Water and electricity run in some places, but there is no gasoline, food or other means to survive.

As the rain begins to fall, the dried dirt becomes mud again. The stench of dried, dead animals is refreshed and the unsettling quietness, isolation from safety and destroyed surroundings make every storm more menacing.


Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise

A truck remains trapped under a house in Cameron, La. on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005. The parish got as much as 15 feet of storm surge during Hurricane Rita and is trying to get property owners to submit right-of-entry forms so U.S. Corps of Army Engineers can demolish most houses.


An overturned truck remains next to a destroyed power transmission terminal in Cameron, La.


A truck remains destroyed by a house marked for demolition in Cameron, La.


An alligator decays by a destroyed house in Cameron, La.


Destroyed trucks remains scattered throughout Cameron, La.


Clifton Hebert, Cameron Parish's emergency operations center operations chief, (right) lightens the mood in the planning trailer in Cameron, La.


Clifton Hebert, Cameron Parish's emergency operations center operations chief, (right) walks past the remains of his home in Cameron, La. He believes his neighborhood was destroyed by tornados before the storm surge carried away the debris.


Charles Primeaux, Jr. shovels inches of mud from his home in Cameron, La. His home is one of very few which can be rebuilt. It was originally constructed in the 1930s of shipgrade lumber.


Patty Cope of Houston (left) holds a shovel as her daughter, Jenny Broussard (right), cleans it in Cameron, La. They were trying to open a clogged sewage line.


Jenny Broussard (right) checks her boots after her mother Patty Cope of Houston (left) spray-cleaned them in Cameron, La. They borrowed a neighbor's hose as water to Broussard's home no longer ran.


Some areas show modest improvement. Debris from the Cameron Parish Library has been removed by the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers in Cameron, La.


Vehicles travel down Louisiana Highway 27 through the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge near Holly Beach during a storm. Power line poles erected since Hurricane Rita begin to slide into the water as tornado warnings were issued for Cameron Parish. Each step forward in the area seems to be accompanied with a half-step backward.

For additional coverage, please see Hurricane Rita's toll on SW Louisiana or Mark's Hurricane Rita visual timeline.
 

Cameron, La.

Towns along the Gulf Coast of Southwest Louisiana have suffered different shades of damage from Hurricane Rita. In Cameron, many buildings remain, but almost all are damaged beyond repair. Many homes were pushed off their foundations and the remaining shells block roadways. Demolition is a certainty for most of the city.


A doll remains trapped under a board in Cameron, La. on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005. The city was devastated by Hurricane Rita's storm surge.


Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


A dead alligator rots in a drainage ditch near Cameron Elementary School in Cameron. Only the framework of the auditorium remains.


The Cameron Parish Library remains completely destroyed in Cameron. Pieces of the city's elementary school gymnasium remain in the background.


A shrimp truck remains damaged and abandoned in Cameron. Similar trucks were strewn throughout the area.


The gymnasium of the First Baptist Church in Cameron remains damaged and filled with broken pews and other debris.


A statue seems to fend off the ocean at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic church.

For additional coverage, please see Hurricane Rita's toll on SW Louisiana or Mark's Hurricane Rita visual timeline.
 

Texas Gatorfest tag team

The famous international blogger Fayrouz attended the Texas Gatorfest in Anahuac. Since we both happened to be there at the same time (it's ironic how these synchronicities happen), we decided to both post our images at the same time. Please check out her take on the event.

Yes, we tried fried alligator on a stick. No, I don't think we'll do so again.


Festival attendees watch as a nearly 13-foot-long alligator captured on a private lake by Larry Janik of El Campo weighs in at 508 pounds during the annual Texas Gatorfest at Fort Anahuac Park in Anahuac on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005. The festival offers cash prizes to hunters for the largest alligators captured during the event. The 20-day alligator hunting season in Texas began Sept. 10.


Photos by Mark M. Hancock / © The Beaumont Enterprise


Beaver fur-lined gator-skin boots and golf shoes by Houston Custom Boots were among the alligator-based products on display during the Texas Gatorfest.


Fayrouz Hancock (left) gets covered in mud as Randal Breaux takes guests for an airboat ride through a wetlands habitat during the Texas Gatorfest.


Festival attendees scream on midway rides during the Texas Gatorfest.