Authorities looking to ID woman who left alligator at Chicago airport

So an alligator walked into a baggage claim area at the Chicago airport — but the punch line of this reptile joke was interrupted when authorities trapped the alligator beneath a trash can — and began a hunt for the woman who brought it there.

Associated Press reported the saga of the traveling alligator began on Nov. 3, when a maintenance employee at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport found a scaly visitor about a foot or two long, lurking near an escalator.

Then, footage from the city transit system's security cameras showed the little alligator, later named "Allie" by its rescuers, under the arm of a woman and then lying on her knee at about 1 a.m. as she waited for a train. Nearly two hours later, she boarded another train without her reptile friend.

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A passenger who saw the woman, Mark Strotman, told the Associated Press she was treating the alligator like a pet.

"She was sitting with it, petting it, letting people take pictures of it and telling everyone how she raised it from an early age," he told the news wire.

Owning an alligator happens to be illegal, and authorities have released photos of the woman to try and track her down. She could also face charges for abandoning and mistreating the alligator, because the reptile is very sick. It suffers from stunted growth and malnutrition and it's in the care of the local herpetological society, according to AP.

We hope you feel better and return to your travels soon, alligator Allie.