'Slide Under this Fence,' Said the Tortoise to the Gator

This is a story of unintended collusion among some unlikely suspects.

It seems that as a large tortoise shuffled along in its enclosure at the GarLyn Zoo on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it may have created a furrow deep enough for Carlos, a 12-inch baby alligator, to slide under a fence and make a break for it.

The alligator escaped from the zoo, located in touristy Mackinac County, on Saturday and was spotted by passersby, who in turn tipped off police, WWTV-WWUP, WPBN-WTOM and MLive/the Grand Rapids Press are reporting.

Zoo owner Gary Moore said he was relieved to find out the gator on the lam wasn’t one of the adults, who are six to eight years old, are about five to seven feet long, and were given to the zoo because they had become too much for their owners to handle, according to the zoo’s web site.

“My first thought was it was a large gator that got out,” Moore WPBN-WTOM . “I was really relieved to find out it was just a little guy that got out.”

An AABP – alligator all-points bulletin – was put out, but Carlos is still missing. Moore admits “it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack trying to find a foot long alligator in sticks and stuff.”

Unless someone happens to be close enough in the thick foliage to hear Carlos hiss, the search may be for naught, he said.

Moore told WWTV-WWUP he hopes Carlos can be found before cooler weather sets in. “Once it drops down to 50 degrees he won’t eat they need warm temps to digest food,” he said. “Beyond October his days are numbered.”

Carlos was last seen on U.S. Highway 2.

“I’m asking people that if they see a little alligator holding a sign on U.S. 2 that says, ‘Florida or bust’ to call us,” Moore told MLive/the Grand Rapids Press.

Michigan State Police helped in the initial search for Carlos.

“It’s not every day you see a complaint come in where law enforcement is dispatched to an escaped alligator,” Trooper Fred Strich told WPBN-WTOM.

Anyone who sees the reptile is asked to call the Michigan Department of Natural Resources or Michigan State Police.

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