A FedEx driver couldn't say "see ya later alligator" fast enough after being greeted by a juvenile alligator at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday.
The wildlife sanctuary posted a video to Facebook showing a small alligator perched near the visitor center entrance, and a package left just beyond him on the sidewalk.
"For some reason, FedEx left our package on the sidewalk this morning rather than bringing it indoors like they usually do 😂🐊," the post reads.
Refuge employee Josie Farias was able to get video of the truck driving away as the alligator held his ground, seemingly oblivious.
The young gator is relatively new around the refuge, according to visitor services manager Laura Bonneau, so he doesn't have a name.
She said the alligators tend to move around when it rains, so he's only been hanging around the visitors center for about a week or so.
"It's not common, no, but you never know what you might see when you visit the refuge!" she said in a Facebook messenger chat.
Bonneau said alligators prefer freshwater wetlands, but that the refuge's freshwater ponds and marshes had been dry until the recent rains.
"I'm sure he'll find a better spot soon now that we've had a good bit of rain," she said.
She said when it gets really dry like it had been until recently, the smaller alligators also tend to lose the battle over prime wetlands to bigger gators.
An area near the visitor center fills with water when it's rainy, but not permanently.
"There are a few places on the refuge that do," she said. "Freshwater is a really precious resource."
For the dry season, Bonneau said the refuge has solar-powered wells to compensate.
"We have water wells drilled that pump fresh water into small scrapes and ponds to provide fresh water," she said. "It's a way to make sure that the (whooping) cranes and other wildlife have fresh water even when we're in a drought."
