Escaped alligator wanders into Kansas road

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Residents of a city in Kansas were faced with an unusual situation when an alligator wandered into the middle of a road.

Natalie Cowan said she was driving Monday night in Basehor when she stopped for the 4-foot reptile in the road.

"I honestly started laughing," Cowan told WDAF-TV. "I was like, 'This has to be a joke. It's not real.'"

A witness captured video of a sheriff's deputy fleeing from the gator when it lunged toward him.

Cowan said a deputy drew his gun at one point, but did not shoot the alligator.

Authorities said the alligator was found to be an escaped pet and the reptile returned to its owner's property on its own once it was given a safe distance.

The alligator was not the only member of its species to turn up in an unusual location Monday -- a kayaker off the coast of a Chicago suburb found a 4-foot alligator swimming in Lake Michigan.