Homeowners shaken after encountering aggressive intruder blocking their porch: 'It was chaos'

In Maurepas, Louisiana, homeowners Bobby and Susan McKenzie found their evening interrupted by a nine-foot alligator crawling into their patio. WAFB 9 reported that officials promptly caught the alligator and released it into a local river.

What's happening?

Louisiana is no stranger to gators, and the Livingston Parish region is home to over 400 miles of rivers, lakes, and other small streams, as recorded by Tour Louisiana. Still, finding an alligator on your property is no small shock.

The McKenzies stated to WAFB 9 that a small skirmish ensued, although it was quickly concluded with the help of Livingston Parish authorities and a neighbor with alligator experience.

"It was chaos," said Susan McKenzie.

The alligator likely emerged through a small hole in the couple's screen window, according to WBRZ News. It's the first such confrontation at the McKenzies' house, but gator invasions as a whole have grown more common over the years. Just two weeks prior, a couple in Fort Myers, Florida, discovered a seven-foot alligator in their kitchen.

"We see them on the swamp side, and we see them in the water," Bobby McKenzie said to WBRZ, "but never — they're usually not that aggressive."

Why are alligator invasions important?

Although alligators are native to the American South, they've never been quite as prevalent in human communities as they are now.

Per First Coast News, the rise in gator sightings could be due to "the fact that everyday there's more commercial and residential development, and in turn, less habitat for gators."

The disruption of their natural nesting spaces might explain why the alligator at the McKenzies' house engaged in behavior typically uncharacteristic for their species, as Amie Mercado, a reptile keeper at St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, told First Coast News that they "do naturally fear people and they want to stay away from us."

However, the more humans expand into wetlands and other gator habitats, the more likely we are to encounter alligators in urban and residential areas. While these interactions are only occasionally violent, seeing an alligator on your front porch can still make for a nasty surprise. And in cases where the gator feels threatened or provoked, aggression isn't uncommon.

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What's being done to protect gators?

Conservation efforts in Louisiana and across the American South are targeting coastal restoration and wetland protection. Restoration projects along the Mississippi River Delta have helped keep saltwater out of Louisiana wetlands, supporting freshwater creatures — including the American alligator — in the process.

The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project, for instance, has helped restore wetlands in the Mid-Barataria Basin region by drawing in freshwater and sediment from the Mississippi River.

For their part, Louisianians can help prevent unfortunate gator confrontations by securing their dumpsters and staying outside of gator-prone waterways, especially after daylight hours. If you do come across an alligator, do not try to feed or entice it. Instead, contact the local authorities or the Department of Wildlife.

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