A US man thought he had the perfect chick magnet in his pet alligator. Authorities only saw a dangerous animal.

A charge of possession of a dangerous animal has been filed against 43-year-old Dewayne Yarbrough of Ford Heights in Chicago, Illinois, who claims he kept the four-foot alligator to impress women.

Mr Yarbrough told Cook County sheriff's investigators he kept the alligator in a small tank and fed it only 10 live mice a month to keep it from growing too large. He said he bought the gator five years ago in Indiana for $200.

Animal control investigators did not say how they learned of the alligator, which they found in Mr Yarbrough's kitchen.

The alligator was taken yesterday to the Animal Welfare League and will be given to the Chicago Herpetological Society.