A Middlesex County man out walking his dog this week found a baby alligator in a small pond.

Todd Pospisil says that he was out walking his dog Ellie near a small pond behind his house in Old Bridge Thursday when something strange caught his eye.

“It was submerged right there. Probably about 4 or 5 inches underwater,” he says. “I looked at it and said, ‘I think that’s an alligator.”

Pospisil says he called his brother-in-law to come over to also take a look.

“I didn’t believe him at first. I had to look close and then I was like, ‘Yeah. That’s definitely an alligator,’” says Sean McGovern.

Pospisi says he retrieved a net and scooped the alligator out of the pond. He turned it over to the Old Bridge Animal Shelter. A spokesperson for the shelter says that it is believed to be the first alligator ever housed there.

It was unclear how the alligator ended up in the pond. But shelter officials say that it was likely set loose by an owner or escaped from somewhere.

The animal will be given to an alligator rescue group.