He learned his lesson the hard way.
An alligator showed a Louisiana motorist he was not a friend as he tried to block Keith Carmouche of Avoyelles Parish from invading his turf.
The online videoshows Carmouche slowly driving through the high grass in central Louisiana near the Mississippi border on May 20 to give the gator ample time to move away. But the ferocious reptile had other ideas and tried to intimidate the man in the large steel truck by opening its mouth and showing its teeth.
Undaunted, Carmouche continued forward and it cost him – about $3,000, in fact.
The alligator lined its mouth up with the bumper and latched on – ripping the metal frame off the vehicle.
“Oh well, that’s nice. Son of a gun,” Carmouche is heard saying in the video.
The 32-year-old told the Daily News he went out in his 2002 Nissan Frontier to gather some firewood. He said he had dealt with alligators before – though none this aggressive.
“Usually when you mess with them like that they turn around and scamper off,” he said. “He had a different idea in mind.”
He not only underestimated the alligator’s intentions, but also its power.
Carmouche said when the animal snapped onto the bumper, it “shook my whole truck.”
Carmouche was intent on getting the bumper back after the violent encounter.
“I had to show it to my wife or she wouldn’t believe me,” he said.
That led to a potentially dangerous moment as he got out of the truck with the alligator still in sight, glaring at the motorist. He said he grabbed the bent bumper, threw it into the truck and drove off.
He decided to spend the $3,000 to repair it and reattach to the front of vehicle.
It’s made for a good conversation piece when he points out the tooth marks, he said.
Carmouche said he drove by the same path the next day and didn’t see the alligator, but if the two cross paths again he will take the long way home.
“I won’t drive at him next time,” he said. “I’ll keep my distance.”
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