An alligator in a suburban Lexington neighborhood? Well, no, but it’s a cousin.

Beth Musgrave
·2 min read
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Two women walking a dog on Wednesday afternoon next to a small creek in the Dixie neighborhood were met with a sizable surprise — a more than three-foot-long reptile that looked like an alligator.

Mark Arnold said his wife and daughter were walking his daughter’s puppy, Chesney, along the creek that backs up to Roland Ave near Eastland Parkway. Chesney, a golden retriever, likes to play along the creek.

“He likes to go in and pull out rocks,” Arnold said of Chesney. On Wednesday, Chesney backed away from his favorite play space. Arnold’s wife and daughter then spotted what looked like an alligator in the creek.

“At first I didn’t believe it,” Arnold said when his wife and daughter told him. They sent him photos.

It looked like an alligator.

“It’s pretty good sized,” Arnold said.

Arnold called longtime Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman Richard Moloney.

Who do you call about a possible alligator?

Moloney suggested Arnold call Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control. Moloney also posted a warning on his Twitter and Facebook pages.

https://www.facebook.com/RichardMoloney4Council/posts/3873578566012735

“I’ve never heard of alligators being in Lexington,” said Moloney. “But I have heard of people raising them as pets.”

Animal control officers captured the reptile late Wednesday afternoon.

It was a Caiman, a cousin to an alligator. It was 3-feet-long, said Officer Aaron Evans, of Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control.

“We get a lot of calls like this and when we got out there, it’s not what was reported. But this was a 3-foot-long dwarf Caiman,” Evans said. The animal is currently at the animal care and control shelter in Fayette County.

They are waiting for the go-ahead from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife to transport the animal to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in Slade.

Evans said it’s highly likely that someone bought the Caiman at a trade show. The animal likely got too big and was then let go. Anyone with any information about a possible owner should contact animal control at (859) 255-9033.