Surprised officials nab out-of-place gator in New York

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. -- Humans weren't the only species basking in the Northeast's warm weekend weather, as police helped capture a small alligator sunbathing by a small pond in this Long Island town.

It was a startling sight Saturday in a community just 35 miles from Manhattan.

The American alligator is native to the South, and it is against New York law to own one, said Ray Gross, chief of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Green with yellowish stripes and about 2 feet long, the animal appeared to be about 3 years old, Gross said.

County police helped capture the alligator, which "wasn't too happy to see us," officer Vinny O'Shaughnessy said.

"We were incredulous at first, but then we knew that we had to do something about it," he said.

The SPCA is looking for whoever may have released the alligator. That person could face animal cruelty charges, Gross said.

He said the animal had probably been raised in captivity and would be unable to fend for itself in the wild.