Paperboy Note: I just had a quick review of the forum threads ... and I jusr want to assure you that I'm not trying to turn the Croc Forum into Wes's 'crac reality channel' ... but you folk and your python peers are getting a lot of press lately. I'll try to use some discretion in the amount posted. respects, Wes
ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 20 October 05 Python vs. gator -- ouch! -- whose would be jaws of victory? (Mike Thomas)
It is good the pythons are not here to see this.
I am at Gatorland, where a guy named Brandon jumps in an alligator moat. He drags one out by the tail, pounces on it and then poses over the defeated reptile.
Then he drags out another one, subdues it and lets kids sit on top of it for $10 apiece. Our most fearsome predators have been turned into circus ponies.
This is not good, because the Burmese pythons are coming.
"The South Florida Water Management District regularly hits them when they [mow] the levees," says Todd Hardwick, who catches nuisance wildlife in South Florida for a living. "So imagine how many really are out there."
Todd caught a record 22-foot python in 1989. That is big enough to swallow Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary.
"The snakes are moving north, south, east and west," Todd says.
Notice the word north.
And the only thing between them and us is our noble friend -- the mighty alligator. Already it has taken up jaws against the invaders.
Most recently, biologists photographed the remnants of a death match in which it appears a 13-foot python was trying to swallow a 6-foot gator and exploded. Todd says he thinks the gator started decomposing inside the snake, and the gas buildup caused the eruption. Evidently, snakes cannot belch.
"Technically I say the snake won because the gator was dead first," Todd says.
But earlier this year, a biologist documented a gator shredding a python. It's eat or be eaten out there.
"It's not unusual for pythons to eat small crocodilian," says Tim Wilson at Gatorland. "That is part of their natural diet [in Southeast Asia]. And gators do eat snakes -- cottonmouths and water snakes. They'll eat a rattlesnake, too. They grab them and shake them and bust the snake all to pieces."
And now the question we all want answered: Could a 13-foot gator beat up a 13-foot python?
"I'd put my money on the gator, only because it has so much strength and power," Tim says. "As long as the gator can grab him, that's the key. A gator's jaws exert up to 4,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. Their teeth are as big as .50-caliber bullets."
But Tim adds that pythons are no slouches. Their long, curved teeth act as hooks when they grab something.
"They put their prey in a vise, and it has no way to suck in air," he says.
The python might even be able to drown the gator.
While we have no photos of the two in combat, I consulted with wildlife experts in re-creating what they agree is an accurate depiction of an actual battle between the reptiles. Please see the accompanying photo illustration.
The problem we face, however, is enlisting enough gators in this war. Like their counterparts in Gainesville, real gators are underachievers.
"They don't want to fight much," Tim says. "They are kind of lazy."
Rather than tackle a big snake, most would opt for lakefront poodles. So we might have to fall back on the pit bulls to protect us.
And now for the next question we all want answered: Would you rather be eaten by an alligator or python?
"I've had both of them try it," Tim says. "A gator is going to grab you, chew on you, rip and tear on you. A python is going to strangle you pretty quick and swallow you. I'd probably go with the snake."
Python vs. gator -- ouch! -- whose would be jaws of victory?
