Just another alligator sighting — in New Jersey?

A Department of Public Works employee came across an unusual sight in a New Jersey duck pond — an alligator.

Gary Sgambati was cleaning around the Duck Pond, a public fishing spot and park located in Secaucus, N.J., when he thought he saw a toy across the pond, he told WABC News.

It wasn’t a toy.

Sgambati soon realized what he was seeing was actually a “two-to-three foot gator facing the sun with his mouth open,” WABC reports.

The DPW employee told WABC that he tried to snap a photo of the alligator with his phone, but the gator slid into the water before he had the chance.

According to WABC, state officials could not find any signs of the alligator at the Duck Pond.

However, the town has installed alligator caution signs near the pond to be safe, WABC reports.

American alligators typically aren’t found any further north than North Carolina, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

A New Jersey official told The Jersey Journal that experts believe the alligator was someone’s pet that was dumped near the pond and isn’t likely to survive long in the pond due to the water’s cold temperature.

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Just another alligator sighting — in New Jersey?."