Man surprised to find alligator in his koi pond

When Ryan Alavi from Montgomery County, Maryland, got up on Friday morning, he looked out his back window and saw something in his koi pond. “Looked out my window thought I saw a snake walked out to flush him out ... took a step there and realised that was no snake,” Alavi said.



That’s when Alavi dialed 911. “This may sound crazy but...we have an alligator in the pond in our back yard,” Alavi said. “The lady said ‘are you sure?’ I said yeah I’m pretty sure it’s a gator,” he said. Police were sent to the scene in Brookville. Officer Jack Breckenridge, with animal control, couldn’t believe it.





“They said there’s an alligator in that pond and I’m like ... and when he popped up I’m like hey there’s an alligator in this pond,” Breckenridge said. It was the first alligator officers have seen in the area in 18 years. Officers are still investigating exactly how the three-foot gator got into the koi pond especially because they’re illegal in Montgomery County and in the state of Maryland.


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“It could be an accidentally escaped pet it could be an intentionally released pet,” Breckenridge said. “This property backs up to the reservoir there’s no telling where this animal came from.” The gator is now at the Catoctin Wild Life Preserve and Zoo. Officers are investigating what happened and said anyone in possession of an alligator faces a misdemeanor charge with a $1,000 fine.