When checking out of a hotel room, it’s always a good idea to double- or triple-check that you aren’t leaving anything behind. Especially if that thing has very sharp teeth.
Evidently a guest at the Pine River Motel in Cheboygan, Michigan, did not follow that procedure — according to the Detroit Free Press, they forgot a whole 3-foot dwarf alligator in the room.
The reptile occupant, whose name is Wally, was a surprise to the manager, who found him hanging out under the bed after the human lodger checked out.
“He was a real friendly gator, so I didn’t feel real scared,” the manager says. “He let the police officers hold him and all that, I mean, it was a real friendly alligator.”
It turns out the patron did have a reason for traveling with an alligator — he’s a traveling animal handler who brings Wally to schools for educational reasons.
“He thought it got out,” the manager says of the Wally’s handler. “He looked for him, couldn’t find it.”
Wally and his human have since been reunited. We’d guess that his first lesson to the kids he’s teaching is about not leaving your alligator in your hotel room.