Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW LEBANON, N.Y., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A New York state couple said their pet alligator was found swimming in a nearby stream two weeks after he went missing from their home. Rhonda Leavitt, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and owner of Rhonda's Reptiles, said she and her husband, Zack, spotted their missing 3 1/2-foot gator, Kobe, swimming in a stream about a mile from their New Lebanon home Wednesday, the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union reported Thursday. Advertisement Leavitt, who said Kobe escaped from her home while she was cleaning his cage Aug. 21, said she and Zack were able to pull the wayward reptile from the water and return him to his home. "I didn't like going for that late night swim but it was worth it," Leavitt said. "This will be the first night I will sleep in two weeks." Leavitt said Kobe, who is named for her favorite Japanese restaurant, has been in her care since he hatched from an egg four years ago. "It's such a relief, you have no idea how happy I am to have him home," she said. "I think he's fine, he's scared, he's cranky." Advertisement Read More Mississippi hunters set state alligator records Mother reports son keeping alligator in bathtub Two-foot-long alligator found in Joplin, Mo., pothole Alligator slain for dog attack to be displayed in museum Trapper captures alligator suspected of attacking Florida boy Florida teen bitten by 9-to-10 foot alligator; needs lots of stitches
