"Only in Texas will you get a gator and Whataburger in the same picture," Chance Ward said on his Facebook page after strapping the animal on his flatbed truck.
The reptile, renamed “George” by authorities, was attempting to cross U.S. 59 in Cleveland near the fast-food restaurant shortly after midnight Sunday.
The gator survived despite being hit by the truck, and Ward was called to assist law enforcement in removing it, the Chronicle reported.
Ward gained local fame for rescuing cattle and horses in floodwaters during Hurricane Harvey last year.
“I thought the gator would have moved on by the time I got there but when I arrived the road was blocked and they were letting traffic flow in one lane," he told the Chronicle. "The gator was just there and not moving. He would rise up and hiss at them anytime someone would get close."
While Cleveland firefighters shut down all southbound traffic during the rescue, Ward grabbed a couple of lariat ropes from his truck.
"I roped the gator and handed the rope to the animal control officer in Cleveland and then circled around and roped him again on the opposite side so we could pull in two different directions,” Ward told the Chronicle. “He flipped and flopped quite a bit and then I put another lariat rope over his nose.”
The alligator will be relocated from Ward’s farm in Tarkington later today, the newspaper reported.
"The game warden was aware of what was going on. He told us we could put the gator down if it became necessary,” Ward told the Chronicle. “But you know me, I am not about all that. That wasn't an option for me.”
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