New Orleans residents were left shocked after the dead body of a massive alligator was found down a quiet residential street days after a hurricane hit.
Locals were confused to discover the stinking remains of the animal had "showed up overnight" even though Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana over a week ago.
People have been warned not to go near the dead creature as its corpse will likely pop like a "smelly gooey balloon".
But quite how it ended up on this New Orleans street very far away from its natural swamp habitat is a mystery that's baffling residents.
One resident said the area "did not flood" during the hurricane, which was the state's most damaging hurricane since Katrina, but there was high water in the drainage system so "maybe it came in that way".
"But that is just speculation," they added.
"No one knows.
"It is a local celebrity, but really smells.”
Someone else said: “It was too far from any natural habitat to have wandered this far into the city,” one local said.
People flooded out onto the street to see the dead animal after photos of its long tail sticking out of a skip were shared across social media.
Everard Baker, a New Orleans-based wildlife biologist, who was among those who saw the alligator, said: “I study the impacts of infrastructure development on wildlife and ways to mitigate it for the federal government, so I wanted to determine if it was a hoax or not.
“It’s definitely dead, and the smell for anyone confirms it.
“Gators can’t climb up into a dumpster like that, so someone put it there. There were a few other people milling about, everyone sort of marvelling at it.”
He added: “I’d caution folks to be cautious – as the body decomposes, gases fermenting inside will build up and it will ‘pop.’
“Imagine a smelly gooey balloon.”
“I definitely would not want to be around for that!”
Another local, who estimated that the gator was nine feet in length, said: “We are about as surprised as anyone would be. It isn't something we've seen before.
“Dead gators may show up on the side of the interstate highway through the swamp, but not a residential neighbourhood.”
People have come up with all sorts of theories about how the alligator ended up dead in the skip.
Some say it was roaming the streets and was shot, others that it was caught on a fishing trip and brought back to the city.
One observer said that the creature had escaped from a local factory where alligators are processed into blood sausage.
“We've solved a lot of problems, but we just haven't figured out the alligator,” one resident said.
Mr Baker continued: “It’s unlikely to have drowned, though it is possible.
“What likely happened is that it travelled through the stormwater management system during the storm.
“I noticed a laceration around one of its back legs that looks like it was either caught on something or tied up.
“A more colourful theory is that someone was keeping it as a pet, which is not unheard of round here.”
The remains are expected to be taken to landfill, along with the rest of the skip, according to local media reports.
