Police rescue baby alligator

One of the unexpected delights of living in a city that's crisscrossed by bayous: random alligators, like the one found wandering around a parking lot at UH last night. Someone who said they found the 2-foot-long baby gator at the university took it to HPD's South Central substation, where officers ... put it in the parking lot.

Just after 11 p.m., a concerned [Officer Thomas] Simmons could be overheard discussing the emergency situation with a police dispatcher.

"Does anybody have a night number for the zoo? I've still got the alligator," Simmons reported, a hint of anxiety in his voice.

Another HPD officer, who overheard the conversation, suggested instead that the dispatcher contact the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, which would send a game warden to fetch the prisoner.

The dispatcher asked Simmons: "Do you want the game warden to come tonight?"

"Uhm, well yeah," said Simmons. "That would be good."

Police called the Parks and Wildlife Department, which told officers to release the gator into a natural body of water. Simmons took the alligator to the Police Memorial, where he planned to release it into Buffalo Bayou (the baby should be right at home there with the bayou gator that lives downtown). No one's sure whether the baby gator wandered into the UH parking lot itself or if it got some help from students.