ABBEVILLE MERIDIONAL (Louisiana) 01 September 10 Alligator found in chicken yard near Meaux (Chris Rosa)
Meaux: Martial d’ Augereau thought he had seen every wild animal possible living in the Meaux area for the last 15 years. There have been foxes, birds, a bobcat, possums , and snakes to walk on his property located on La. 696 But Monday night, a new wild animal was found on his property - a four-foot long alligator.
d’ Augereau lives not far from the corner of La. 696 and La. 697. At that intersection is the closed down Catfish Whole Sale business. It was the place where fishermen brought their seafood to sell.
But around six months ago, the business shut down. Behind the building is an old oxidation pond that was used by Catfish Whole Sale. Since its closure, the pond sits idle, and the water is beginning to evaporate.
Somehow, an alligator escaped into the pond and had been thriving off the carcasses from the catfish business.
D’ Augereau has land next to the pond and about 100 yards away from the pond, is a fenced- in area where he is raising turkey and chickens.
Tuesday night he heard his dog barking at something in the fenced in area where the birds are. He walked up to the dog to see what all of the barking was about. Inside the fenced in area was a four-foot alligator searching for food.
“I stepped back when I realized it was an alligator,” said d’ Augereau.
The gator, which he figured came from the pond, managed to crawl under his fence and was searching for food.
D’ Augereau walked into the area where the alligator was, grabbed a net he uses to catch chickens and began fighting with it. He pulled the gator into a cage that he uses for his birds.
“I think he was eating my chickens,” said d’ Augereau. “I am not sure if he even ate one because I do not count them.”
As of Wednesday afternoon he still had the gator trapped under a cage. He planned to call the Wildlife and Fisheries to see if someone could pick it up.
Since the closure of Catfish Whole Sale, d’ Augereau wants that pond drained. He said snakes have been located around the pond and children live not too far from the pond.
“Now an alligator,” he said. “There is a chance he was not the only one living in the pond. Someone needs to drain the pond before something bad happens.”
Alligator found in chicken yard near Meaux