Of course, at kingsnake.com, we like alligators. Tom and Consandra Christmas in Mississippi don't feel the same, at least when the reptiles are roaming around their front yard, which they say are. And they know who they blame: ExxonMobil, who they claim managed their nearby property in such a way to drive more than 80 gators onto their land.

From Newsmax.com:

The Christmases charged that the alligator infestation is a non-abatable nuisance that has caused a permanent injury to their property and are seeking damages for permanent depreciation of their land, reported the AP.

ExxonMobil, though, claimed that the Christmases' real estate agent told them about the alligators as far back as 2003 and the Christmases waited too long to file a lawsuit, stating their claim has passed the statute of limitations.

A Mississippi circuit court judge threw out the Christmases original case in 2011, but a state court of appeals returned the case to Wilkinson County for trial. ExxonMobil appealed that ruling to Mississippi's Supreme Court.

"Alligators were allegedly introduced to the Exxon property prior to 1984, and the retention ponds have apparently existed at least that long," stated the Christmases filing to the Mississippi Court of Appeals. "It was also attested that by the year 2000 (at the latest), there were 'many, many alligators' on the Exxon property, and a real estate agent involved in the sale of the property to the Christmases stated that an alligator may have attacked a horse he kept on the Christmas property."

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