Named “Chubbs” in a nod to a similar creature from the Happy Gilmore movie, the 12-foot-long alligator was sunning itself on a tee box at River Pointe Golf Course in Richmond, Texas before being roped and tugged onto a tractor by Christy Kroboth, a full-time dental hygienist and part-time wrangler who also recently removed an 800-lb. gator from a shopping mall.

 

The Gator Squad, a Houston, Texas-based alligator trapping service, had to be called out to capture a 12-foot animal after it was discovered sunning itself on the 17^th hole at River Pointe Golf Club in Richmond, Texas last week, reported Outdoorhub.com.

“ ‘Chubbs’ the gator [was] removed from River Pointe Golf Club today,” wrote Gator Squad in a post on its Facebook. “His size attracted a few news cameras, but Chubbs is a neat gator, soaking up sun on Hole 17. Problem was he was sunbathing in the tee box daring anyone to make him move. We did.”

Surprised when they found that the gator only had one eye, Outdoorhub.com reported, the trappers decided to nickname it “Chubbs,” as a nod to the one-eyed gator in the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore.

Gator Squad is operated by owner Chris Stephens and part-time alligator wrangler, full-time dental hygienist Christy Kroboth, Outdoorhub.com reported. Kroboth made headlines earlier this month for capturing another 12-foot alligator in the parking lot of a Sugar Land, Texas shopping mall. That gator weighed upwards of 800 pounds and was taken to a wildlife sanctuary in El Campo, Texas.

“We were able to put a rope on him and played a bit of a game of tug-of-war,” Kroboth told ABC News regarding the capture of the gator at River Pointe GC. “Once we settled him down, we were able to put him in a tractor.”

C&RB featured video of Kroboth and her gator-wrangling techniques in a “Friday Filmfest” report on November 20: http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2015/11/20/friday-filmfest-gator-girl-wrangles-chubbs/

“He was challenging the golfers, and daring them to retrieve golf balls in the rough near him,” Gator Squad wrote in its post. “Can’t be a naughty gator in our town without meeting Gator Squad. Neat animal, and his enormous size and good attitude after the catch will earn him a pass to the gator farm, where he will be fed lots of natural foods, have plenty of chubby ladies, and lots of water and land to roam.”

According to the golf course’s managers, “Chubbs” had been a familiar sight in the area, but has recently been more active and was a danger to guests, Outdoorhub.com reported, prompting the call to Gator Squad.

The reptile may have been well-behaved while being captured, Outdoorhub.com reported, but Kroboth said the golfers were a different story.

“Golfers were extremely close to him even when we pulled up,” she said. “We had to yell at them and tell them to back off.”

The trapper said that the golfers were throwing balls at the animal, taking pictures, and generally being too close for comfort. The large predators may look slow and sedentary, Outdoorhub.com reported, but they can also be terrifyingly fast if provoked. Fortunately the trappers were able to remove it without incident.

To view photos of Kroboth and Chubbs post-capture, go to: http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2015/11/24/massive-one-eyed-gator-chubbs-captured-florida-golf-course/