Brampton residents had an unexpected long-weekend visitor drop by when they spotted a three-foot alligator in their backyard.
Peel Regional Police confirmed that they got a call about the alligator in a downtown backyard on Sunday, shortly after 3 p.m.
Neighbour John Dryden told CTV Toronto that the alligator attracted quite a crowd of curious onlookers as the residents on Elliot Street waited for animal services to arrive.
"We were just in our backyard enjoying the weekend and the neighbour leaned over the fence and he said, ‘You know there's a gator in the backyard?'"
Dryden said he laughed it off as a joke until he wandered to the fence where there was, indeed, an alligator wedged along the chain-link fence and hissing at onlookers.
He grabbed a camera and started snapping pictures.
"He was opening his mouth and showing his teeth, so he was getting a little cheesed off, I guess," said Dryden, chuckling.
Meanwhile, residents tried to call animal control, but couldn't get in touch with them because of the long weekend.
Then they called Peel police.
Peel police confirmed that they contacted animal control, which was able to remove the alligator with a noose usually reserved for nabbing aggressive dogs.
Ron Shawley, who watched the spectacle from his backyard, said animal control was able to tape up the alligator's snout to ensure it didn't bite anyone before transporting it.
Police said they have no idea where the animal came from, but it was relocated to a zoo in Peterborough.
Neighbours, however, have their own theories about where the animal came from.
"It must be somebody's pet that got loose, right?" said Shawley. "How else would an alligator get loose in this area?"
