Tripod is back home — in the water, where a three-legged alligator belongs.

A Melbourne police officer who spotted , managed to rope the reptile and deposit it into a nearby pond.

The incident unfolded about 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, near Fee Avenue Park after Melbourne dispatchers received a call about an alligator hiding beneath a car in a parking area near the intersection of Valentine and Pine streets.

Officer Glenn Whiteside arrived within moments after the call and spotted the 3-to-4-foot-long creature. He also noticed the alligator had three legs, likely from a fight with another reptile or some other kind of injury.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officers were contacted but could not provide an arrival time.

So Whiteside, at least momentarily, turned gator-catcher.

“He saw that i

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