Alligator Found in Marion County on Aetna Mountain

You expect to find turtles, frogs and fish in a mountain pond, but you don't expect to see a three-and-a-half-foot-long alligator.

A hunter spotted the critter in a pond on Aetna mountain and told Jeff Huff, who leases that property.  He and his dad Chester then went out and caught the gator.  They originally thought it was a caiman, but found no boney ridge on the top of its head.

Tennessee Wildlife Officers told them to take it to the Nature Center, where it is now living safe and happy.

The wildlife officers say it was likely somebody's pet that just got a little too large.

The gator is native to the southeastern coastal region.