A lot of people dropped their kids off for their first day of school this week.  But a dad in Texas had a more eventful day than most . . .

Mike Trinh lives near Houston, and he was getting his kids ready for school on Tuesday.  It was his daughter’s first day of middle school.

But right when they were supposed to leave, she refused to go outside . . . and claimed there was an ALLIGATOR by the door.  Mike assumed she just didn’t want to go to school and was joking.

So he told her to stop messing around.  But it turned out there really was a fairly large alligator sitting in their driveway.  And instead of calling someone for help, Mike went ahead and wrangled it HIMSELF.  

He took his kids to school first, so they wouldn’t be late.  Then he came back . . . tossed a towel over its head . . . duck taped its mouth shut . . . took it to a nearby pond . . . and released it.  And his 19-year-old daughter got it all on video.

He told the local news that he was a huge fan of Steve Irwin and “The Crocodile Hunter” as a kid.  So that’s how knew what to do.  He says wrestling a gator was actually on his bucket list for a long time.