11 foot long reptile/dinosaur blocks highway in Texas (everything is big there, remember)

An unusual traffic hazard closed down U.S. Highway 59 in southeast Texas early Monday. 

It was an alligator, and a massive one at that. According to the Houston Chronicle, the gator measured 11 and a half feet long. 

Authorities learned of the reptilian risk when the animal was clipped by an 18-wheeler just after midnight near Cleveland. They put out a call for wildlife wranglers, and a local cowboy answered the call. 

When Chance Ward of Tarkington arrived, the gator was clearly unhappy. 

"He would rise up and hiss at them anytime someone would get close," Ward told the Chronicle. 

Ward lassoed the reptile, and it took six men to load the beast into the bed of his truck. According to Ward's Facebook page, the gator — dubbed George — was released into an area lake about noon.