Gator Caught—in Chicago?

Alligator wranglers may not be the busiest of folks in metro Chicago, but they came through yesterday by yanking a 5-foot unwelcome visitor out of the Chicago River, the Tribune reports. The healthy female, probably a discarded pet, is on her way to a sanctuary in the Southeast.

“Everyone feels it was someone's pet and they just threw it in,” said one official. The gator—the first known visitor of its kind to the river—appeared to be fine shape, perhaps because of the ample supply of carp living in that part of the river, a secluded industrial zone. Tough as it is, the gator probably could not survive a Chicago winter, meaning it was likely dropped off recently.