JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Workers returning to a popular waterfront restaurant after it was closed for a week due to flooding got a surprise.

Clark's Fish Camp is as famous for its collection of mounted animals as its exotic foods -- including alligator tail -- on its menu. Tuesday morning, while cleaning out the men's bathroom, the owner grabbed the tail of a live, 4-foot alligator that had taken refuge in the waterlogged restaurant.

"I thought it was a fish or an eel or something, and all I caught was the back of the tail," Joan Peoples said. "I got down and started looking, and he got in behind the commode ... and I said, 'Oh my God, that's a baby gator!'"

Employees made a decision to drag the gator out -- kicking and screaming -- and set it free in Julington Creek.

Peoples said that in her 35 years of running a business surrounded by wetlands and an assortment of alligators, she has never had one come inside. But what was even more surprising was the unseasonable floods that allowed the gator to get inside.

"During September and October -- that's hurricane season and you expect the water -- so you're a little more prepared," Peoples told Channel 4's Vickie Pierre. "We weren't prepared."

Peoples said the water -- and the gator -- are gone and they planned to have the restaurant ready to reopen on Wednesday.