Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I stumbled across this photo which had no info on who took it? Hope they don't mind because it is awesome and very insightful (IMHO). This photo shows the true apex predator of the Florida swamps...The American Alligator - take a bow Mr. Gator. My guess is the sensationalized photos of the Burm eating the alligator are few and far between. There are far too many young and hungry gators to let the Burms get too out of hand. Young Burms are good chow for these guys and it just may be that the Burm problem is the same as the Global Warming problem... Get rid of the non-indigenous Burms if they are unwanted, but make no mistake, the alligator is king of the swamp.

I've seen that picture before -- I'm not sure where it came from but I think it is photoshopped.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

Herp Medicine does not equal a bottle of Baytril - Dr. Scott Stahl

Tosha,

I agree about it being photoshopped. That Burm sure doesn't look concerned about chomped on.

Derek
Cape Fear Reptiles

If you watch how alligators eat, they take breaks very often and just sit with the half live prey in their mouth. Especially if the prey isn't too big or not viewed as a threat to them. They will leisurely 'flip' the prey up into the air to get a better grip and then just sit for awhile. I believe the crocs tire easily and they stop and regroup before the put the prey item away for good. Crocs are king in Fla swamps..not Burms.

That pic was taken at the Anhinga Trail section of the ENP and is real and not photoshopped. Hundreds of tourist saw it and filmed it plus rangers as the battle lasted over an hour. The alligator when it bit the Python of course crushed the part it bit but snakes are tenacious of life and it wrapped itself around the gator's head to keep from being dismembered. ALLIGATORS AND THE AMERICAN CROCODILE ARE THE PREDATOR KINGS OF THE ENP WITHOUT QUESTION....
-----
Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Do a search on youTube - there are a couple videos of gators vs. pythons. There were a series of photos with the above one. Doesn't look photoshoped to me....