Mystery alligator captured in Ontario family's back yard

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Authorities in Ontario said an Animal Services officer responded to a Hamilton back yard to capture an unusual creature for the region -- a 5-foot alligator.

Walter Ertsinian of Hamilton said his daughters, ages 11 and 18, got out of the family's backyard pool Tuesday and spotted the alligator wandering around the yard.

"They thought for a moment it was rubber or something for the pool that I had purchased," Ertsinian wrote in a Facebook post.

The City of Hamilton Animal Services dispatched "Officer Matt" to the scene.

"We're not sure how this fellow, measuring approximately 5 feet from nose to tail, ended up where he did, but his species is prohibited under the City of Hamilton's Responsible Animal Ownership By-Law," Animal Services said on the social media site.

Ertsinian, who captured video of the alligator's capture, said he is just as baffled as investigators when it comes to the gator's origins.

"I even asked my neighbour, hey, do you have an alligator as a pet?" he told the Hamilton Spectator. "She said, 'yeah, I have three.' Then I said, 'wow, really?' And she said, 'yeah, no.'"