BROOKEVILLE, Md. (WUSA9) -- A Montgomery County man is recovering from quite a scare after finding an alligator in his koi pond.
"Looked out my window thought I saw a snake walked out to flush him out..took a step there and realized that was no snake," Ryan 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 can be heard saying in a 911 call.
"The lady said ‘are you sure?' I said yeah I'm pretty sure it's a gator," he said.
Police came out to the scene in Brookeville. 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 three-foot gator officers have seen in the area in 18 years.
Officers are still investigating exactly how the gator got into this koi pond especially because they're illegal in Montgomery County and in the state of Maryland.
"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.
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