Sunday was particularly challenging for American Press press foreman Paul Simmons, who lives near Welsh “in the middle of a bunch of crawfish fields.”

When Simmons went outside to check the air pressure in the tires of his Ford Fusion before heading to Lake Charles, he was greeted by a six-foot-long alligator under the car.

“I wasn’t scared. I was just surprised by it,” he said.

Simmons went back inside to summon his wife and grandson to come out and see the gator, then used a long piece of copper pipe to coax it out from under the car. The gator did not like being prodded.

“It wasn’t happy when I poked it with the pipe. It kept biting it and hissing,” he said.

The alligator did eventually move back to where it came from, and Simmons was able to go along on his way.