Police nab 70-pound gator in home

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CNN/WTMJ) - An animal living in a Milwaukee home really belonged in a zoo.

Police found a 5-foot-long, 70-pound alligator. That gator has been confiscated and is now resting comfortably inside a domestic animal control shelter.

The homeowner says he's upset because the animal, named "Wally-Gator," was considered part of the family. He says Wally was living on a diet of fish, crickets and frozen rats.

Animal control says people keeping alligators as pets is common.

"It's kind of interesting, because we may not see one for 2, 3, 4 months. And then all of the sudden in a month's time we'll get 3 or 4 of them," said John McDowell.

Wally's owner says he and his family didn't know keeping an alligator as a pet was illegal.

Police have not said how they were tipped off to the presence of the illicit pet.