Toronto, February 13: Although marijuana is not known to produce hallucinations in its users, some potent strains of the drug have led to its users having interesting experiences. Texas police got one such call from a man who was trying to enter an abandoned warehouse to find a quiet place to smoke his joint. However, he found a full-grown tiger instead.

Texas police said the ‘concerned citizen’ upon entering the premises came upon a tiger locked up in a cage and no one in sight. They obviously questioned him if he was under the influence of the drug. The answer was negative. "We questioned them as to whether they were under the effects of the drugs or [whether] they actually saw a tiger," Jason Alderete, from Houston Police Department, told ABC-affiliate KTRK. The caller admitted he intended to smoke the joint in a quiet place but found the tiger instead. Read: Male White Tiger to Mate Royal Bengal Tigress? 

While speaking to reporters, Texas police admitted that they initially thought the caller was under the influence of drugs or was making a hoax call. But when they reached the described location to investigate, they did indeed find the tiger in a cage in the warehouse. The cage was not locked but its gate was tied up with a nylon rope. The tiger looked unwell with a few packets of meat in its cage. Read: Tiger Kills Potential Sumatran Mate on First Date at London Zoo

The police officers then arranged for the tiger to be transported to an animal sanctuary. The tiger estimated to weigh around 500 kgs was identified as a female. Officers said she did not have any apparent injuries but did seem thirsty. Lara Cottingham, a spokeswoman for Houston’s animal control agency, said of the tiger: “She’s pretty large, so she doesn’t look underfed. She was thirsty.”

Texas police will now investigate how the large cat came to be in the Houston warehouse. As smoking weed is illegal in the state of Texas, the police might press charges of possessing narcotics against the person who reported the tiger.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 13, 2019 12:46 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).