Alligator Mysteriously Turns Up in Pennsylvania

Authorities believe it may have been someone's pet.

An alligator mysteriously wound up in a Pennsylvania backyard.

"We deal with snakes and other things, but we know that, but a gator is unheard of here,” Prospect Park resident Mary Bosch told KYW. “It was a little nerve-racking, because we have little dogs and we do swim in the creek, and there's little kids that go up in here."

The three-foot gator was located on Friday after the creature was spotted by Bosch’s neighbor, Tracie Hoffecker.

Officials believe it was a pet that had either been abandoned or escaped. Alligators can be legally kept as pets in the state. 

"I was shaking!" Hoffecker told the station. "Like, oh my God, there's an alligator in my backyard! I couldn't believe it."

Officials are now seeking a new home for the alligator in a local aquarium.

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