A gray seal was spotted Saturday morning, walking along the streets of eastern Maine, passing in front of several houses and a horse pasture, then wondered onto one of the highways.

Suspected to have come from Whiting Bay, the seal reportedly got on Route 189 in Washington County. It then ran into trouble upon getting on the highway, with its body shape preventing it from proper mobility on the asphalt. Drivers who spotted the animal stopped.

Larry Sprague of Dennysville approached the seal, saying "there's no water up there" as the seal attempted to make its way into a nearby wooded area.

Upon being told of the animal, a still-incredulous James Jones made his way to where the animal was said to be located, reported the Bangor News.

"I was down to the [Whiting Bay Store] getting a cup of coffee and someone walked in and said, 'James, you know what to do, there's a seal down there in a field,'" he said. "I said, 'What? A seal in a field?...Now boys, don't be pulling my leg.'"

Jones contacted an Artie Bousquet, identified as a professional trapper. While waiting for the Bousquet to arrive, Jones attempted to keep the animal from going into the woods.

The seal then started to bark, as if in an attempt to keep the people surrounding him at bay.

"I don't think he trusts us," said Sprague.

AP reported that Marine Patrol Officer Russell Wright then arrived, shortly followed by Bousquet. The growling seal was lifted up by its flippers, and placed in the cage. Bousquet said he planned to release it at the boat launch, where it was afterwards put back in the ocean.

"Put in your paper that Artie Bousquet saved the town," joked Jones.