Massive Alligator Takes Out Invasive Burmese Python In The Florida Everglades

Two kings of the swamp battling for supremacy. Alligators have long called Florida home and have been the unequivocal king of the waterways but in recent years an invasive species has seen a huge surge in population and is now competing with gators for their place on top of the food chain. Burmese pythons were introduced to The Sunshine State through a combination of exotic animal trades gone wrong and the release of pets into the wild, and to say they took to the environment well would be the understatement of the century. Due to their reclusive nature and the fact they tend to reside in the deepest of the deep swamps, a real count of their population is hard to get, but researchers estimate that it's at least 300,000 but may be up to a million. Females will lay around 50 to 100 eggs at a time, meaning the number of these creatures is growing rapidly. They can grow to be close to 20 feet long, weigh close to 200 pounds, and can eat pretty much anything they can wrap their thick bodies around, including alligators . Naturally, there's going to be a lot of head-to-head competition between these two swamp beasts and fortunately for us, we get to watch one play out right before our eyes without having to gear up and trek through the Everglades. Taken near the Shark Valley visitors center, a wildlife photographer named Ewan Wilson spotted the moment a massive alligator took on a massive python. You've got to watch it go down to understand the magnitude of the moment... words just don't do it justice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU2TwImaD8Y&t=8s Gotta love when the good guys win. I'm always team alligator. Even though pythons are really cool in their own right, they're wreaking havoc on the Florida ecosystem and it's time gators stepped up to help curb the problem.

Alligator Drags Away Monster Python In The Florida Everglades

As somebody who is absolutely terrified of snakes, even this video gives me cold chills. However, where I come from, the worst snakes we have to worry about are typically copperheads, but black snakes and king snakes are the most common in my area. And thankfully, they're pretty harmless... So needless to say, it's hard for me to imagine living in a swampy area, and possibly running into a massive python. Apparently these sightings are not uncommon in South Florida, as Everglades City resident Carl Nicholson caught some WILD footage of an alligator dragging away a huge python. According to Outdoor Life, Nicholson says the incident happened at the 29 Canal in South Florida, where alligator and python sightings are all too familiar. You can hear him say in the footage: "That's a big gator and he can't even take it down. He's trying." We're talking about two fierce predators, and these types of gator/python encounters have been pretty common in the South Florida area. Part 1:

Although alligators have long ruled the murky waters of Florida, Burmese pythons have recently found themselves right up there with the gators as top predators in the Sunshine State. The outlet notes that there is an estimated population of 30,000, to 300,000 of pythons in the state of Florida, and they feed off a number of rabbits, deer, turtles, raccoons, possums, birds, and just about anything else they can take in. Burmese pythons range from 10-16 feet in length, and are some of the strongest snakes imaginable. Needless to say, the alligator had his work cut out for him in this one. Part 2:

Burmese Python Swallows A Whole Alligator With Ease In Florida

If this doesn’t make you afraid of pythons, I don’t know what will. There’s a lot of animals out there, all are very interesting, there are many that I definitely don’t want close encounters with, then there’s the python. I would go to great lengths to avoid one of these beasts. They literally squeeze the life out of their prey, wrapping their long armless body around animals and increase the pressure until they suffocate. These massive snakes average between 6 and 9 feet in Florida, but can grow much longer, especially around the world. One in Florida was recorded at a whopping 18-foot and 215-pounds, the largest ever in the state. Pythons are not natural in Florida, however. They are considered invasive, meaning they out-compete naturally occurring species. They are such a large problem that they have actually killed a ton of wildlife in the areas they reside, and have no natural predators. And in the Everglades, where you can find them now, they have built quite the population. They will eat nearly anything, much like a gator. Except inside of having a hard bite, they have the ability to displace their jaw and fit their whole mouth around their kill. Watching this happen is almost unbelievable. This python shows us how dangerous they are as he squeezes the life out of an alligator in Florida. The gator is not particularly large, but it is still a gator. The snake then proceeds to swallow the gator whole. When I think of eating an animal whole, not that I would ever do it, I would guess an alligator would be tough to do so with its tough skin. Something with fur might be a little bit easier going down. This snake is hungry though and couldn't care less... this meal will hold it over for quite some time. It displaces its mouth and fits it around the whole alligator, eventually getting the whole thing inside of itself. The crazy thing is, it does it with ease. I’ll be the first to say, gator tastes pretty good, but this is downright crazy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVRhRzE_AkQ

Louisiana Man Jumps In Alligator-Infested Waters

Jumping in alligator infested waters ALWAYS sounds like a bad idea. But stuffing your pockets with chicken and THEN jumping into alligator-infested waters? Insane. Well, for one Louisiana man, that's exactly what he did. Check it out: [adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="cMINT4PB" upload-date="2021-05-13T12:57:56.000Z" name="Louisiana Man Fills Pockets With Chicken, Jumps In Alligator Infested Swamp" description="Louisiana Man Fills Pockets With Chicken, Jumps In Alligator Infested Swamp" player-type="default" override-embed="default"]

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