Animal rescuers in Iowa find reported loose gator was plush toy

May 5 (UPI) -- Animal services officers in Iowa were called to an apartment complex on a report of an alligator on the loose, but they arrived to find the reported reptile was a life-sized plush toy.

The Animal Rescue League of Iowa said animal services officers were dispatched to the apartment complex in Des Moines on a reported of a 4-to-5-foot loose gator in the parking lot.

"Residents of a Des Moines apartment complex walked out and were startled to see a large reptile resting in the parking lot," the ARL said in a Facebook post.

"They immediately reported it and waited anxiously until our Animal Services Officer arrived. While their fear was real, the alligator, it turns out, was not."

The alleged alligator actually was a 4-foot-long plush toy.

"The large stuffed alligator is now safe in the care of ARL Animal Services," the post said.