Gator on the loose in Washington!

Quite the incident happened near the 9400 block of Ray Grade Rd. in Snohomish County over the weekend. Reports came in to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department and Washington State Fish and Wildlife for a 10-foot-long ferocious man-eating gator! Was it really painted as a ferocious man-eating monster? Probably not, but I'd like to think so. This call came in for this 10-foot gator, and people were very freaked out. The Snohomish County Sheriff and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife were aware of the sighting, and they made a post about it on social media. That post was shared hundreds of times. When sheriffs and wildlife officials arrived, they were shocked to see it wasn't a gator at all. 

10-Foot Man-Eating Gator

The ferocious 10-foot man-eating gator was, in fact, a 4-foot-long pet lizard named Tazz who somehow escaped from a local home. Tazz is an Argentine White Tegu that escaped the house on Friday afternoon. The owner said he generally stays inside and that he was still missing Saturday evening. The owner found out he escaped after her son saw the post on the Granite Falls Police Department's Facebook page about an alligator sighting in Granite Falls. 

“I thought, that’s weird, because I am the only person I know with a four-foot lizard,” said Duncan, the owner. That's when she realized Tazz had escaped and channeled his inner Godzilla to terrorize the local park. 

Get our free mobile app

Safe at Home

Despite Tazz's desire to rampage, his owner says, “He's very docile. You can hug him, he sleeps with my cat,” said Duncan. “He’s a very beloved pet. We've had him for ten years. He's part of the family.” She urged people online not to use violence to capture or stop this alleged 10-foot alligator. The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office used drones to search areas for Tazz and finally located him, putting an end to the terrifying day of an imaginary 10-foot gator in Washington.