Mystery creature in Lincoln Park pond: What is lurking in the water?

CHICAGO - What some call a "mysterious" creature has emerged in Lincoln Park’s North Pond. It's even drawing visitors who are curious about claims that it could be an alligator.

However, on Friday, Chicago Animal Care & Control cracked the case.

While wishful thinking may have led some to believe the city would be getting a sequel to "Chance the Snapper," officials said this is simply a "surfing turtle." 

"This is Chicago, you never know what you’re walking into," said Armando Tejeda, public information officer with Chicago Animal Care & Control (CACC).

And in Lincoln Park’s North Pond, you never know what may emerge from the water.

"The pictures that we had, it kind of looked like a snout sticking out of the water. It did look like a huge, long body," said Tejeda.

For Tejeda and CACC officers, it was an eventful Friday. After receiving a few calls asking if he'd heard anything about an alligator in the North Pond, he rallied his team and put boots on the ground.

"There’s a lot of wildlife in the area, but this was big. This was like four to six feet that [the witness] saw," said Tejeda. "We walked the perimeter a couple times, kind of checking the banks, checking the mud to see if there were any dragging marks or prints in the mud. We didn’t see anything though."

That's when Tejeda contacted the Chicago Herpetological Society. LINK: https://chicagoherp.org/

"They’re the reptile experts," said Tejeda.

Within minutes, the photos provided to Tejeda were… well, debunked.

"It was actually, for lack of a better term, it was a turtle surfing in water," said Tejeda. "It was a big turtle that was on the end of a log, and he was kind of clamped onto part of the log and with his front paws, he was swimming around, and he was diving and rising out of the water."

Thriving with wildlife, including fish, ducks, and another small turtle that FOX 32 cameras spotted within minutes of arriving at the pond on Friday, it seems the mystery creature was just a turtle having a bit of summer fun!

"It was something different and it was a learning experience for the people that were with us too, for some of the new officers that we have," said Tejeda.

As for the reptile riding that rogue log, a board member with the Lincoln Park Conservancy shared a video with FOX 32 showing the massive turtle she believes caused the commotion. 

This month marks the fifth anniversary of "Chance the Snapper" moving to Florida. He was discovered in the Humboldt Park Lagoon in 2019.

"I’ve been with Chicago Animal Care & Control for about 10 years now, and in those 10 years, I’ve probably seen about four or five alligators come in," said Tejeda.

Tejeda explains that there have been cases where people purchase alligators as pets without realizing how large they will become and release them into the wild – something that is not recommended.

As a precaution, Tejeda said their team will be monitoring the North Pond over the next several days – just in case.

RELATED: 'Chance the Snapper' doing well in Florida after capture in Chicago in 2019