SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — A collective croon goes up from the crowd waiting behind the rope line as Judith, with a hair bow on her head, comes out with handler and rescuer Jacob Reinbolt on Saturday at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary.
“She is ready to go and be an alligator again,” Jacob Reinbolt, educator and self-described gator wrestler at the sanctuary, announces to the group.
Jacob Reinbolt brings out a rescued roughly four-foot-long alligator, named Judith, for the crowd to see before her official release into the juvenile alligator pond Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)Bradliy Salinas, 7, watches Judith the alligator from behind a rope line as he visits the park for his birthday Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)Jacob Reinbolt explains how rescued alligator Judith was found with her mouth taped-shut in Estero Llano Grande State Park Saturday, March 4, 2023, at a celebration for her recovery and release into the juvenile alligator pond at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)Rescued alligator Judith sports a bow on her head as visitors take pictures before her release into the juvenile alligator pond Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)Jacob Reinbolt explains to the crowd that Judith is being released into the juvenile alligator pond with other new alligators to prevent her being singled out Saturday, March 4, 2023, at a public celebration for Judith following her rescue and recovery at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)Jacob Reinbolt lowers rescued alligator Judith into the water of the juvenile alligator pond Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)
