A common occurrence in Florida perhaps, an alligator seen on the side of the road, possibly even in traffic, or hit by a vehicle.

Common in Michigan...a deer or a raccoon, but not an alligator.

Until Thursday... drivers saw the carcass of an alligator after it was hit on Mt. Hope Highway in front of Town and Country Auto Repair.

Tipsters said it was struck by a truck.

Other viewers told News 10 that it was a pet that got away.

News 10 was on the scene and discovered the alligator was a family pet, named Wally.

Wally was 21 years old and the family got him in 1998.

He was an non-indigenous animal to the state but he was a legal pet.