Two alligators were confiscated at a home in North Attleboro by the Massachusetts Environmental Police. North Attleboro police found them while serving a restraining order.

North Attleboro Police Department

The 2½- to 3-foot-long alligators weren’t supposed to be in the basement of the single-family home on Bungay Road in North Attleboro, but there they were — two of them — in a fish tank.

North Attleboro police found the two pet alligators — not fully grown — as the officers were serving a restraining order against Scott A. Walsh and removing about a dozen firearms he had in the home.

The restraining order against Walsh, who lived at 158 Bungay Rd. with his wife, Gail Walsh, and their 16-year-old son, required the man to vacate the premises, Detective Lt. David S. Dawes said yesterday. Walsh’s wife had gotten the restraining order against him, Dawes said.

North Attleboro police confiscated all of Walsh’s firearms, Dawes said. Restraining orders require individuals to turn over any firearms they have to the police. If an order is later lifted and an individual conforms to the law, the firearms may be returned.

Since the North Attleboro department knew ahead of time that Walsh had firearms, several officers were sent to the home Wednesday evening to serve the restraining order, Dawes said.

“During the confiscation of the firearms, we discovered the two pet alligators in the basement in a fish tank,” Dawes said.

It is illegal in Massachusetts to possess alligators in a home, according to the police.

Although Walsh legally owned about a dozen rifles and shotguns and had the proper permits for them, he did not have them all properly stored, Dawes said. He has been charged with one felony count of improperly storing firearms because he didn’t have the appropriate locks on some of them, Dawes said.

That is the more serious charge the man is facing, but when the police saw the alligators, they needed to act on that issue as well, Dawes said.

The alligators appeared to be well cared for, Dawes said.

“He didn’t have much to say,” Dawes said, when the police summoned the Massachusetts Environmental Police to seize the alligators. “It’s just that we knew right away that they were illegal to possess, so we summoned the environmental police.”

The environmental police issued Walsh a citation for the illegal possession of the alligators. The penalty can range from a $50 fine to up to a year in jail, Dawes said.

These weren’t the first alligators North Attleboro police have needed to remove from a home, Dawes said. The last such case was five years ago.

Walsh complied with the restraining order against him and left the home, Dawes said.

kbramson@projo.com