MI Motel Staff Find Live Alligator In Room

CHEBOYGAN, MI — Staffers at a northern Michigan motel found an alligator inside one of their rooms last week, according to officials.

Staff at the Pine River Motel in Cheboygan on Friday were cleaning one of the rooms where they found the 3-foot-long alligator, according to officials.

Investigators learned the alligator, named Wally, was left by a guest who was in town to show exotic animals to kids at a nearby elementary school.

"We just went in to clean the room and, when my nephew looked under the bed, Wally was there," the hotel owner told the Detroit Free Press. "He was a real friendly gator, so I didn't feel real scared. He let the police officers hold him and all that, I mean, it was a real friendly alligator."

After being contacted by police, the alligator's owner-who also had other exotic animals with him-told officials he thought the alligator escaped into the wild.

The owner agreed to head back to Cheboygan to pick Wally up.