In Texas, an alligator basked on a beach, scaring away park visitors.

Texans are starting to hit the beach in the warm spring weather, as are some of the state's most dangerous animals. Alligators can sometimes take a saltwater bath to rid themselves of freshwater parasites, reports Chron.

Photo: iStock.com/clark42

Over the weekend, beachgoers were shocked to discover they weren't the only ones enjoying the sun, sand and surf at Sea Rim Park in Sabine, Texas. It is located just over 160 miles east of Houston. A huge alligator was filmed on video. He was soaking up the sun in a coastal park in southeast Texas near the Louisiana border.

Hunter Ham, a native of the area, grew up here. He has been fishing and surfing all his life. On March 23, he took his three children for a walk to the park for the first time. Around 16 p.m., Hunter came across a giant alligator. Alligators do not always cause fear: for example, in Mexico, the mayor of the city married on this reptile.

On the subject: The plane's engine caught fire while flying from Texas to Florida.

“About 150 meters from where we were playing on the beach, we saw him,” Ham said. “There is some fresh water on the other side of the dunes where the reptile came out.”

“The beaches of Southeast Texas are always an adventure.”

Ham saw an alligator for the first time in his life on the beach.

“You could say it was his beach and he was relaxing without any fear,” he noted.

On TikTok, where Ham goes by @ham.fishing, he shared footage of the video. In them, a formidable reptile snacks on a perch near the ocean coastline. His children can be heard chanting "alligator, alligator" in the background of the video. Ham said his wife and children were safe inside the truck behind him while he captured the unique footage. Ham said he was close enough to the car to jump back if the alligator got angry.

“The beaches of Southeast Texas are always an adventure,” Ham captioned the TikTok video, which has racked up more than 1 million views since he posted it to the platform on March 24.

@ham.fishing Southeast Texas Beaches, always an adventure #alligator#beach ##saltwaterfishing #gulfcoast ♬ original sound — Ham Fishing

In the comments, users expressed shock at what they saw.

“I think this is his beach now,” one user commented.

“I camped there a month ago and slept on the beach!” - noted another.

“They can run faster than you think,” wrote another.

Hygienic procedures

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officers responded to the beach after the alligator appeared. Ham said one of the officers explained that the alligators sometimes go to the beach briefly to rid themselves of freshwater parasites that cannot tolerate saltwater swimming.

“It’s rare to see this, but it actually happens from Texas to the Carolinas,” Ham said.

This isn't the first time these reptiles have been spotted on the beach in Texas. In September 2023, a small 60cm alligator was spotted on the beach at Mustang Island State Park in Corpus Christi. Earlier, in April of the same 2023, patrollers from the Sea Turtle Research Center saw a much larger alligator (estimated to be about 2 meters) relaxing on the beach on the Bolivar Peninsula.

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Alligator sightings are more likely this time of year due to the current breeding and nesting season. According to TPWD, these reptiles are mostly inactive from mid-October to early March. Then comes the peak of breeding and nesting, which lasts until the end of May.

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