Boston's affection grows for a small alligator spotted in the Charles River, with rescuers saving the foot-long reptile just before the cold could harm it.

The tale of the city's serpentine reptile seems to conclude positively. Wildlife authorities in Massachusetts announced Thursday that the young alligator, observed near Boston's Charles River on several occasions this week, has been successfully apprehended and brought to a secure location.

The approximately foot-long reptile surprised some individuals and quickly gained fame online after bewildered bystanders captured footage of it disappearing. However, this creature isn't indigenous to Massachusetts and wouldn't be able to endure the severe New England winter, prompting a search for the lost alligator.

On Wednesday evening, a wildlife educator from the area managed to catch the creature, which is currently being housed temporarily while a permanent placement is sought, according to authorities.

Whitney Lieberman, a graduate student at Harvard University, was one of the residents who spotted the unusual visitor. She alerted wildlife officials after observing the animal during her morning jog to work.

“Yeah, I did a double-take. For a second, I had to check myself — alligators are not native to Boston waterways, right?” Lieberman said. “I texted my coworkers because I had a morning meeting: ‘Hey guys, this is a good excuse to be late for work. There is an alligator right in front of me and I don’t know what to do.'”

The animal faced peril because of the cold weather. On Thursday, it was 51 degrees Fahrenheit (11 Celsius) by The Charles. Alligators thrive in temperatures exceeding 80 degrees (27 degrees Celsius). Being cold-blooded, they cannot control their internal temperature and must enter a dormant, energy-conserving state known as brumation to endure colder conditions.

Joe Kenney, proprietor of Joe’s Craz-zy Critters, a wildlife education enterprise, secured the alligator, according to a statement from The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The division indicated that Kenney has been granted temporary permission to house the animal while they determine a permanent location for it.

Kenney, of Abington, Massachusetts, said the alligator, being young and just a foot (30 centimeters) long, is basically harmless to humans. He said he located it by walking in the area where it was last reported and was “a little shocked” when he found it.

He mentioned that enthusiasts of the reptile have contacted him, with some requesting it be named “Charles.” Kenney stated the creature was likely an impulsive acquisition by its owner, but unsuitable as a pet.

“An alligator isn’t designed to live in a fish tank. Really, ideally, it should be living out in the swamp in the southern United States,” Kenney said. “And they can get pretty big. So even though this guy is still little, by the time he’s somewhere around 10, 15 years old, he’ll be an adult alligator.”

Adult alligators can reach lengths exceeding 11 feet (3.4 meters) and a weight of over 500 pounds (227 kilograms).

Authorities are still looking into the alligator's presence, though they suspect it was either a pet that got away or was deliberately set free.

“MassWildlife is working in close collaboration with the Environmental Police to find a safe home for this alligator as an educational animal with a permitted facility. This incident serves as an important reminder that it is not legal to keep alligators or any crocodilian species as pets in Massachusetts,” state herpetologist Mike Jones said in a statement.

Alligators have been known to appear in urban settings far from their natural habitats. One, nicknamed Chance the Snapper, was found in Chicago in summer 2019 and ultimately captured. In 2010, another alligator was spotted in the Charles River near Boston.

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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.