The Huge Alligator Would Shake The Smaller One Like A Rag Doll
| I realized setting up the camera on a tripod was out of the question. If this was a situation that could be photographed, it would have to be done from the driver's side window of my automobile. The incident that unfolded in the next thirty or forty minutes was one that can only be described as unbelievable. I witnessed and photographed the episode, one which a person only sees once in a lifetime.
The Larger Gator Got The Small One's Head In Its Jaws And Crushed It Like An Egg |
A huge alligator in excess of eleven feet long, had in its jaw's a gator of between five and six feet, that it apparently just caught. The smaller alligator, which the predator held, was still alive. At times the huge reptile would come out of the water with over its half of its body exposed and shake the smaller alligator like a rag doll. This occurred several times, as you can see in the photographs. Sometimes when doing photography I am selfish, and want to keep the situation to myself without intrusion from others. I knew in this situation if another car stopped and the occupants got out, the show would be over. This was one occasion where I was doing just that. You have to understand that I was parked off to the side of the road, facing any vehicles that might be coming out from the Blackpoint Wildlife drive. Whenever an automobile approached me, I simply would pick up a book and pretend to be reading, even though I had my camera protruding through the driver's side window. I knew that if anybody stopped and got out of their automobile, the gator would retreat to the deep water with its prey and might not resurface. There simply are no words to describe an incident such as this. Only one other time have I witnessed the cannibalistic behavior of an alligator. That was a situation that I tried to photograph without success. The photographs here are not as good as I hoped, as the lighting situation was not good. But the photographs do portray the fact that an alligator is an unpredictable predator. Until you witness a situation like this, you have no idea of the strength and agility of an alligator. Most people consider them a docile part of the scenery, with no idea how fast they can move or how unpredictable they are. |
Page 3 of 4