Image courtesy: YouTube/Associated Press
It tips the scales at 800 pounds, is nicknamed 'Godzilla' and found itself in a shopping centre near Houston, Texas after apparently having wandered out of the water in a nearby bay. No, it's not a monstrous dinosaur out of a movie, this very real reptile is an outsize alligator that fetched up in the city of Sugar Land and was discovered by alarmed shoppers last Sunday.
The Associated Press reports that an alligator trapper named Christy Kroboth was summoned to the rescue - of both Godzilla and the residents of Sugar Land. In a video of the rescue, Ms Kroboth muzzles and subdues Godzilla using ropes and cloth. A forklift is then pressed into service because, at an estimated 800 pounds, Godzilla is far too heavy to be lifted by hand.
Godzilla, reportedly discovered to be partially blind and missing part of his tail, has a happy ending, movie-style. He's been taken to a game reserve to live out the rest of his life.