Reported alligator in Oklahoma neighborhood was exotic lizard

May 20 (UPI) -- Police in Oklahoma said officers who responded to a report of an alligator wandering in a residential neighborhood ended up capturing something no less unusual -- a tegu lizard.

The Oklahoma City Police Department said an officer responded to a neighborhood in the southeast part of the city after a caller reported their children had spotted an alligator while playing outside.

"What in the Joe Exotic is going on in OKC???" the department said in a Facebook post. "Last week it was snakes, this week more critters."

The post included photos of the captured creature, which Oklahoma Wildlife Department officials identified as a black and white Argentine tegu lizard, which often are kept as exotic pets.