Alligator found, saved in Lake Michigan

Authorities in Illinois rescued Monday a four-foot alligator from Lake Michigan, officials said.

"It's not every day that someone reports an alligator in Lake Michigan and the report is true," said Waukegan City in a Facebook message.

Waukegan is about an hour north of Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, near the Wisconsin border.

A kayaker who originally believed that the reptile was a dead salmon called 911 after seeing an alligator head in the water, reported the Lake County News-Sun.

"I was just in shock," said kayaker David Castaneda to the newspaper. "I did not know if it was a real alligator or toy."

According to the post, animal control officials and employees of a yacht broker and a storage company rescued the animal, who was taken to a life protection center wild in the nearby town of Lake Forest.

It was unclear how the alligator ended up in the lake, but a photo posted on the city's Facebook page showed what appeared to be tape wrapped around his mouth.

A wildlife protection center official told News-Sun that the animal was "definitely about to borrow".

"I would say it would be a chance if he was still living a few weeks," said the official, according to the newspaper. "Lake Michigan is getting colder every week."