BEAUMONT — A Texas Aggies' graduation photos are getting a quite bit of attention on social media after she posed with a huge Texas gator last week.
Makenzie Alexis Noland, of Abilene, posted photos of herself with her mortar board and Aggie ring on Instagram and Facebook on Friday, August 3, 2018, posing with a 13 foot, 8.5 inch long gator named Big Tex to celebrate her expected 2019 graduation from Texas A&M.
Noland, who is studying wildlife ecology at A&M, spent the summer as an intern at Big Tex's home at Gator Country just west of Beaumont according to posts on her Facebook page.
As of Monday morning Noland's toothy grad photos have been shared more than 3000 times Facebook and have generated more than 500 comments on her Facebook post.
Big Tex, who was rescued by the park in October 2016, holds the national record for the "largest live-captured nuisance alligator" according ot the Gator Country website.
A post shared by Makenzie Noland (@kenziealexis) on
Noland waded into thigh deep water in the pond with Big Tex for the photo shoot wearing Aggie colors and even got a shot of her Aggie ring balanced on the tip of Big Tex's nose.
Other photos and posts on Noland's page document her summer at Gator Country working with and feeding the gators at the wildlife sanctuary.