By Tim Binnall
Workers at a Michigan motel got quite the surprise when they stumbled upon a three-foot-long alligator that had been left behind by its seemingly absent-minded handler. According to a local media report, the weird discovery occurred on Friday morning at the Pine River Motel in Cheboygan as staff set about turning down a room that had been used the previous evening. The normally routine task took an unexpected turn when one of the cleaning crew looked under the bed and came face to face with the sizeable reptile that they later learned was named Wally.
In response to the strange find, manager Gary Bates smartly phoned the police, though they were initially skeptical about the peculiar call. "911 thought I was pulling a prank call on them because I didn't know what to do," he recalled to a Michigan radio station. Fortunately, the alligator was exceedingly friendly to the degree that responding officers managed to pose for photos with the creature. After calling the police, Bates contacted the previous evening's guest, who revealed that he was an animal trainer in town for a presentation at a local elementary school and Wally is one of his star attractions.
As for why the alligator was in the room without its handler, the man offered the somewhat dubious excuse that he thought the reptile had escaped and, following a futile search, simply left the motel without alerting anyone to the strange situation. The curious explanation left Gary scratching his head as he observed "you couldn't really miss it. It's about 3 feet long." Regardless of how exactly Wally wound up being left behind, he has since been reunited with his owner, who will not face any charges for the motel miscue that prompted a call to the cops. For the handler's sake, one hopes that the alligator harbors no ill will against him for possibly forgetting him in the room.