NBC NATIONAL NEWS — A Florida man's efforts to save a baby alligator have landed him in jail.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office said Alexander Springer was keeping the foot-long gator in a bathtub.
Springer's wife, Teresa Springer, said she tried to tell her husband to get rid of the gator, but he didn't listen.
"I told him he better get rid of it because one day he was going to get caught," she said.
Deputies showed up at their home after a report of a domestic disturbance.
While deputies were at her home, Teresa said she showed them what was living in her tub.
"He told our detectives that he basically got the alligator from a friend and he was protecting it and was going to release the alligator the next day," said Marion County Sheriff's Office spokesman Judge Cochran.
Teresa said her husband had no plans to release the gator.
She said he built an enclosure in the backyard with chicken wire and a pond because he planned on keeping it as a pet.
"Why would I want a gator in my house? I'm scared of them. That's not a natural habitat for an alligator in the first place," she said.
Springer was arrested.
The alligator was released in a local lake.
What's the moral of the story?
"Leave alligators in their natural habitat and don't try to hide them in your bathtub," Teresa Springer said.