Video shows a 5-foot-long alligator wandering Florida's sewers. Workers initially thought it was a toad.

A 5-foot-alligator was spotted in the underground sewage system in Oviedo, Florida, on May 5, 2023..

City of Oviedo/Facebook

• An alligator was spotted in the underground sewage system in Oviedo, Florida last week, officials said.
• Footage taken by a robot inspecting pipes shows the 5-foot-long alligator perching in sewage. 
• Officials said that the alligator got away after the robot got stuck.

City workers in Oviedo, Florida, were stunned to find a 5-foot-alligator roaming around the city's underground sewage system last week, officials said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

The stormwater crew were investigating a series of potholes on May 5 when they decided to send a small, four-wheel robotic camera underground, the post said.

The robot is usually used to help identify potential underground roadway defects, such as leaking pipes, it added.

However this time around, the robot stumbled upon a 5-foot alligator lingering in the sewage water of one of the pipes.

Footage of the incident, also shared by city officials on Facebook, shows the camera approaching a pair of what appear to be small eyes glowing in the dark.

As the robot moves within snapping distance, the alligator starts to back away with its mouth open. It eventually turns around and walks away deeper into the tunnel.

 

"At first, they thought it was a toad and in the video, you see two little glowing eyes until you get closer — but when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes!" the caption on the video said. 

The crew was able to follow the alligator for a few feet, but then the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator walked away, the post said.

A spokesperson for the city did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Alligators are often spotted in Florida. One patrol officer in Brevard County even managed to snap a selfie with one coming out of a storm drain in September 2021, the Miami Herald reported.

The footage comes several months after people in New York's Prospect Park found a 4-foot-long alligator in a lake close to an area where children liked to play. The alligator may have been an unwanted pet, officials said at the time.

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