Louisiana gator swaps swamp life for Texas beach getaway

PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Texas (AP) — A young alligator traced to the Louisiana bayous traded swamp scum for a sandy Padre Island beach in South Texas. Officials at Padre Island National Seashore said in a Facebook post that the gator showed up Monday on Malaquite Beach, about 25 miles southeast of Corpus Christi. National Park Service rangers found it and checked its tail notch and tags on its rear feet to determine it had come from Louisiana. How it got to South Texas remains a mystery, but its spring break ended abruptly as rangers took it to a rehabilitation center to recover from its journey.