A small and ailing alligator was found and rescued Friday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, according to various reports out Monday.
And to think, most of us don't attempt to get a soda through security.
The most comforting quote to come out of the situation (emphasis ours): "Some human being physically carried it there and put it there. It’s not big enough to operate automatic doors."
Well, thank goodness for small favors.
That observation came from a Chicago Herpetological Society spokesman, speaking with the Chicago Tribune. The 3-year-old gator, approximately 2 feet long, was spotted under an escalator by a passenger, then broom-scooted into a box and placed in the care of the society, the paper said.
The animal, dubbed "Allie" by the herpetological society, was suffering from a calcium deficiency and also from hanging out on the cold floor of the terminal, the spokesman told the paper. Alligators prefer surroundings of 85 to 90 degrees -- hardly the conditions during November in Chicago.