See A Florida Python That Swallowed An Alligator Whole
A Florida python managed to swallow an alligator whole, and the video is not easy to look at.
Florida, Florida, Florida – what a gem of a state. After being completely hammered by last month’s hurricane, which caused Universal Studios to flood and sharks to swim rampant through streets, the Sunshine State just can’t catch a break and now finds itself to be the home of an 18-foot python that casually snacked on an alligator. Instagram user Rosie Moore shared the carnage via her account, in a clip that you can see above, revealing that neither animal made it out alive.
In the video, which isn’t for the squeamish, a team of research scientists pulls apart the deceased python to free the alligator – which is still all in one piece. Sliding the fully intact gator from its deadly confines, the video is (most likely) the craziest and most awe-inspiring thing you’ll see all day. Clocking in at 18 feet in length, the python managed to swallow prey that measured out to be a whopping five feet, according to the post’s caption.
As the caption also explains, Burmese pythons like this one have run amuck in Southern Florida, quickly multiplying and living it up in the area’s subtropical temperatures. The snakes live for an incredibly long time and can reproduce at an alarming rate, leaving the other wildlife that calls this area home incredibly vulnerable to the giant snakes’ hunger pangs. They’re not picky about what they consume, ready to gobble down anything from an inches-long mouse to – well, a five-foot-long alligator.
It’s because of these threats that the Burmese pythons who call Southern Florida, and specifically touchy habitats like that of the Everglades National Park, home, that they’ve landed on the state’s list of creatures to be immediately euthanized upon finding. The post’s caption explains that this specific python was one found in the National Park and was euthanized by the folks who stumbled upon it before ending up on a research table to be investigated by the scientists seen in the clip. During a chat with Newsweek, Rosie Moore also shared that this snake’s dinner wasn’t “a common occurrence” as they usually stick to feasts of the mammal variety.
According to the Miami Herald, Burmese pythons first began making their way into the Florida ecosystem when they were kept as pets during the 1970s and ‘80s. The general belief is that when they would begin to grow (the snakes often stretch beyond 20 feet), their captors would drop them into the wild. And, with what we’ve learned about how quickly the snakes procreate, they quickly became the invasive species terrorizing the area today.
This isn’t the first time this year that we’ve reported on headline-making pythons causing a ruckus in the southern state. Just a few months ago, we shared the news that scientists were studying an 18-foot, 215-pound python that was pregnant with 122 eggs (!!!), and found in – you guessed it – Everglades National Park. And then, of course, there was last year’s story that told the tale of a local Florida resident who casually removed a giant snake from his property. Oh, and he also had trouble with an unwanted alligator visitor.
With horrifying tales of fire ants plummeting from the sky, the news of a giant, alligator-eating python was the last thing that we needed. It seems like the best option is to avoid Florida altogether, or at the very least be incredibly careful about where you’re walking should you be taking a stroll through Everglades National Park.
