Hunt for escaped alligator called off

OAK GROVE, Ky., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Authorities in Kentucky called off the search Wednesday for an escaped alligator.

James Mason of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources called the search "like a needle in a haystack," the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reported.

The 4 ½ foot-long alligator escaped from a moving pickup truck in Oak Grove, Ky., and scampered off into a cornfield.

The alligator was found in the basement of a home in Oak Grove and was taken to a pet store in nearby Clarksville, Tenn. It was being brought back to Kentucky when it escaped again.

Authorities have been alerting residents of the area about the loose alligator.