Alligators in Iowa

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.”

While their fear was real, the alligator, it turns out, was not.

The alleged alligator actually was a plush toy.

The large stuffed alligator is now safe in the care of Animal Services.

Residents had a previous alligator scare – even in Iowa, back in 2008. Not very big but still an alligator in flood waters in Iowa.