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An 8-foot-long alligator was spotted outside a Jucys Taco branch in Henderson, northeast Texas, the Henderson Police Department said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
The restaurant was temporarily shut after the gator "decided to take a nap in the line," Jucys Taco wrote in a Facebook post.
The post read: "The drive thru at Jucys Taco in Henderson is temporarily closed, as a customer decided to take a nap in the line. It turns out gators like Jucys Taco, too!"
Police believe the alligator came from Willow Creek Lake, which is located just behind the venue.
In the Wednesday Facebook post, Henderson Police wrote: "What an exciting morning Henderson had. This alligator said 'see ya later!' to Willow Creek Lake and stopped at Jucy's Taco for a quick taco before being transported to an undisclosed location by Texas Game Warden. FYI: this gator was 8 feet long."
Rusk County game warden Kirk Permenter was reported to have received a call around 9:30 a.m. local time about the sighting near the drive-thru area of the restaurant's parking lot.
The gator was measured to be around 8.5 feet long, according to Permenter. He and a few Henderson police officers were able to capture the alligator, who was taken to a slough along the Sabine River bottom.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department said: "The American Alligator is the only species from the family Alligatoridae that is native to the United States."
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Alligators are not an endangered species, but are "protected in all 10 states where they occur," the department says.
Most Texans residing in "gator country" have no confrontations with the reptiles. However, "there are occasions when certain alligators become a nuisance and must be handled by the proper authorities," the Texas government website for Sugar Land explains.
The website says: "The current legal definition of a nuisance alligator is 'an alligator that is depredating (killing livestock or pets) or a threat to human health and safety.' We do not go out for animals in their natural habitat unless they are a nuisance.
"Texas Parks and Wildlife is the only authority that can deem an alligator dangerous because of their protected status," the website adds.
Lee County Sheriff's Department posted images on its Twitter account showing several deputies securing the alligator.
The department tweeted: "He may have just been 'hangry' for a cheeseburger, but he gave many quite the scare!"
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more