ASCENSION PARISH – A rescue mission is underway in and around the Spanish Lake Basin as escaped alligators are roaming around Alligator Bayou Road.

Currently, the road remains closed due to some minor flooding, but residents also have to watch out for the gators. So far Frank Bonifay and Devin Kinberger have made five rescues.

"We're going to catch him just like we been doing, saving them and putting them back in their pen. It's going to take a few days maybe a few weeks," Bonifay said.

Bonifay is the co-owner of 1,300 acres of land along Alligator Bayou Road and his family owns about 30 alligators kept in a pin on their property. When flooding struck, some escaped.

"We are monitoring it and making sure that we can paddle from my house, drive here and then lasso up the gators and tie 'em up," Bonifay said.

The reptiles are like family, but Bonifay doesn't want the gators hurting residents along the road or vice versa. Along the road are racoons, armadillos and baby deer trying to stay alive after water destroyed their home.

"We've a lost entire ecosystem. All the mammals have no place to go. The death is horrible," Bonifay said.

Bonifay fears for the ecosystem as not much wildlife survived the flood.

"It's going to take years, it's going to take years. We're going to need a lot of help to restock it and put it back," Bonifay said.