Denham Springs, Louisiana – An alligator broke into a couple’s enclosed porch, leading to a wild scene with a professional gator handler and Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputies stepping in to help.

Bobby and Susan McKenzie were at home Wednesday, March 26, evening when they heard strange noises.

“I heard some scratching that I thought was inside the house right behind me in the corner. I went out the door and I saw the screen was torn,” Bobby McKenzie said. “I walked up to the edge of the porch, and I could see the alligator’s tail. I ran back inside and saw him from the window.”

The couple quickly called the Louisiana Parish Sheriff’s Office and a neighbor who raises alligators for assistance.

The sheriff’s office posted a video on Facebook showing the capture. The alligator was handcuffed and later released into a nearby river.

The McKenzies said the fight was short but intense. “It was chaos. Every chair was knocked over. The alligator had a cushion in his mouth,” Susan McKenzie said. “He tired out pretty quickly. I was surprised.”

The alligator measured 9 feet long, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Livingston Parish has close to 400 nautical miles of waterways,” Sheriff Jason Ard said. “This isn’t our first run-in with a gator and won’t be our last — it’s part of the job.”

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