Harford County deputies got a call Thursday night from a pet store owner in Forest Hill.

There was an alligator in his parking lot.

Tan striped with black scales, the alligator’s mouth was taped shut. Her tail, long and thin, extended over a foot behind her, photos show.

Deputies called the gator “docile” and friendly, said Liz Lotz, public information officer for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. Lotz said the owner at Global Pets was able to bring her into his store while they waited for officers to arrive.

With a laugh, Lotz said, “We don’t find alligators often.” Actually, she admitted it’s the first time the county deputies have ever encountered one.

Usually, officers respond to animal-related calls for dogs, ducks, cows and sheep, with the more occasional deer, raccoon and even a peacock, Lotz said. Alligators, she noted, are illegal for private individuals to own in Maryland.

The alligator’s docile demeanor tipped police off that it was likely a pet whose owners might have surrendered it in the parking lot.

Police found themselves asking a question Lotz is pretty sure they never had before: What do you do when you find an alligator in Maryland?

It wasn’t exactly “wild,” so Harford County didn’t require the assistance of the Department of Natural Resources. And they couldn’t take the alligator to be housed alongside the bunnies, cats and dogs at the local Humane Society.

So they turned to Scott Ryan, founder and owner of Ryan’s Reptile Rescue and Rehoming.

Ryan, a Florida native, was used to seeing alligators back home, but finding one in Maryland was a first. And he’s never dealt with one since he launched his reptile rescue in Bel Air six years ago.

Even for one night, he said, it was tough to find space to house the 5 1/2-foot long alligator before its expected transfer to a new home at the Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun by the end of the week.

“The rescue runs at max capacity everyday,” said Ryan, who fields calls from owners struggling to unload their reptiles.

Without doing enough research, unsuspecting owners can be caught unaware that a small python or boa constrictor will “grow over 10 feet and weigh over 50 pounds” in just four years.

In the alligator’s case, there were signs of a good owner, despite the unceremonious dumping. The gator was in good health, with no injuries, and was well-fed, Ryan said.

The investigation into alligator’s abandonment is ongoing. Anyone with information about how the reptile ended up in a parking lot should call the sheriff’s office’s Northern Precinct at 410-692-7880.