Easthaven Baptist Church welcomes hundreds to its Vacation Bible School classes, but an unexpected visitor Tuesday had to be turned away.

     Close to a week ago, church members spotted a 4- to 5-foot long alligator near the church and were keeping an eye out for it. Tuesday around 5:15 p.m., the alligator was spotted again near the church’s sign close to Highway 84.

     Easthaven youth minister Brian Oswalt and church member Ron Williamson went out to check out the commotion near the highway. The men saw the alligator and proceeded to apprehend the creature in order to prevent someone from getting injured.

     “Ron had an apron on, so he took it off and threw it over the gator’s head,” Oswalt said. “Alligators tend to get more relaxed when they can’t see. I then grabbed its tail and pulled it out from the brushes. At that point, Ron grabbed his head and we were able to tape his mouth closed.”

     Oswalt said catching the gator was interesting, but safety was his main goal.

     “It was fun to capture the alligator. But with it being Vacation Bible School we had a couple hundred people on our campus, including many children,” he said. “So it was very important with all the children around that the alligator did not get agitated and do anything to anyone.”

     The pair then took the alligator to a canal near Interstate 55 where they released him.

     “We first saw him about a week ago,” Oswalt said. “One of our church members saw him behind the property. We looked for him, but were not able to find him.”

     Alligators can grow to be more than 14 feet in length and weigh more than 1,000 pounds. They have been known to live more than 75 years while held in captivity, but their average lifespan is unknown.

     People are able to hold an alligator’s mouth closed with their bare hands as the muscles used to open the gator’s mouth are relatively weak. Tape is usually used to keep the mouth closed.

     Oswalt said he was at ease around the alligator.

     “I’m from south Louisiana so I’ve had an opportunity to be around smaller gators in the past, so I felt pretty comfortable around him,” he said.