A small alligator was at the wrong Everglades. A Florida school had an ironic surprise when the reptile appeared on the playground. Okeechobee County deputies found and removed the gator from Everglades Elementary School on Wednesday (November 4), according to NBC Miami.
"Although the mascot at Everglades Elementary School is an alligator, he can’t be on the playground and that’s exactly where Deputy Greis found him going..." Michele Bell wrote in a Facebook post, the public information officer for the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office. No one was hurt.
The school's mascot is also an alligator clad in orange, but the one deputies caught was 4 feet and 6 inches long. Authorities affectionately named the reptile "Everglades" and later released it in the Nubbin Slough River.
There was another strange animal encounter last month. A Pinellas County family found a rare two-headed snake in their home. Back in September, a deputy wrestled with a gator in Polk County, but it wasn't what he expected.
In stranger news, Florida wildlife officials busted a flying squirrel trafficking ring last month, too. Seven people were charged at the time of the story, and authorities accused them of poaching the protected animals and selling them in Asia.
Photo: Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office