An alligator in a Worcester lake? Not quite, says police department
Social media was abuzz on Wednesday over a video with a rumored alligator swimming in Worcester's Indian Lake.
The video posted by Lilianna Gonzalez, who goes by Endless Love Saez on Facebook, showed something swimming in the lake. When asked by a Facebook user about what it was, she wrote she thought it was an alligator.
On the r/Worcester Reddit page, commenters questioned if there really was an alligator swimming in the lake.
It turns out, however, that the animal in question wasn't an alligator but a muskrat, according to a spokesperson for the Worcester Police Department.
Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents that are common in Massachusetts. They are usually found in lakes, ponds and open swamps. They can swim underwater and build homes known as bank dens.
Worcester's animal control did not need to catch the muskrat, the spokesperson told MassLive. There were no reports to animal control on April 23, the date the video on Facebook was posted, about an alligator, the spokesperson said.
Alligators typically don't live in Massachusetts; instead, they prefer wetlands, swamps, and rivers in the southeastern region of the United States.
In 2021, an Agawam fisherman rescued an alligator that was in the Westfield River, saving it from certain death due to the cold weather.
Alligators are illegal to own in Massachusetts but they are available online in other states.
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