Police in Webster City discovered the animal in a temporary pond in a backyard, The Des Moines Register reported.

"It looked like a turtle with its head poking out of the water," Sgt. Ed Wardell said. "It was bigger than we thought it was going to be. You just don't see an animal like that come out of a hole in the ground. It was a shock."

The animal, now named Webster, is at the Blank Park Zoo. It will spend 30 days in quarantine before beginning its new duties.

Webster is only 2 feet long, small for an American alligator, but likely to get much bigger. Police believe he was someone's pet who escaped or was released in the confusion caused by the flooding.

Jim Graff, a keeper at the zoo, described Webster as "easy to handle," another hint that he has spent his life in captivity.

One of the lessons the zoo plans to use Webster for is to demonstrate that alligators do not make good pets.