Alligator at O'Hare airport. Really.

 A small alligator found under an escalator at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has left authorities puzzled.

A maintenance worker discovered the alligator, which is about two-feet long, on Friday in Terminal 3, Chicago Police spokesman Jose Estrada said Sunday.

An officer captured the reptile by putting a trash can over it.

"We don't know where it came from or how long it'd been residing in the airport facilities," Estrada said. "It's one of those random incidents."

The gator is now being cared for by the Chicago Herpetological Society.

"It was in pretty bad shape," said Jason Hood, the group's president. "We're trying to get it healthy and find a place for it."

The police contacted the Chicago Herpetological Society to help with the removal of the animal, a spokesman for the society told the Chicago Tribune, adding that officers, who named it Allie, used a broom to whisk the gator into a box and it was taken to an undisclosed location, under the care of the society.

Allie “needs time to recover,’’ he said, after the jarring experience of lying on the cold concrete floor of O’Hare after likely being “dumped’’ there, he said.

“Some human being physically carried it there and put it there,’’ he said. “It’s not big enough to operate automatic doors.’’

Hood said the gator would likely head to an out-of-state alligator farm once authorities give the organization the all-clear to release the animal.

No one was injured.

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