TOWNSEND, Mass. (AP) – The Florida-like weather in Massachusetts brought out the Florida wildlife, as environmental police captured a nearly 6-foot-long alligator Tuesday in this town northwest of Boston.

A driver called to report the alligator lying in the middle of a road at about 11:30 a.m. Police who responded to the scene found the alligator, with its snout taped shut, off the road in a marshy area, Chief Erving Marshall Jr. said.

“It certainly was surprising to find something like this up in this area,” Marshall said.

The alligator had a broken tooth and a mouth injury that Marshall said may have been caused by the animal itself trying to remove the black electrical tape. The animal was taken to Rainforest Reptiles in Beverly, where it will receive proper medical attention.

The male creature will eventually be taken to a Florida alligator farm because it cannot be returned to the wild, said Michael Ralbovsky of Rainforest Reptiles.

Taping its snout shut was a “virtual death sentence,” he said.

Police have no idea how the alligator ended up in Townsend, a town of about 8,500 residents 40 miles northwest of Boston. It was found on Old City Road, about 200 to 300 feet from the nearest home.

“We theorize that it was a pet that either escaped, or basically that somebody took it here and released it after it got too big to care for,” Marshall said.

It is illegal to own an alligator in Massachusetts without proper permits.

The alligator’s owner, if located, could face charges.

“It’s cruel to leave an animal like that to fend for itself,” Marshall said.