A gator eating another gator is the subject of a new viral video that surprised even the most seasoned wildlife photographers in Florida this week.
Photographer Alex Figueroa came upon the scene at Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland on Wednesday.
"I've never seen a gator eating another gator," said Figueroa, who
posted a video on Wednesday, according to WTSP-TV. Figueroa’s video had more than 1.1 million views as of Friday morning.
But the sight apparently isn’t all that rare. Octavia Heart captured a video of a similar encounter on Sunday, drawing more photographers to the Circle B Bar Reserve in the hope of
witnessing such an incident, according to WFTS-TV.
"Everybody was just excited. All my photographer friends were just as excited as me," photographer Andrew Lilyquist told the station after capturing a series of photos and videos of a large gator eating a much smaller one.
The cannibalistic behavior is normal for alligators,
Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Gary Morse told WTVT-TV.
"What alligators will typically do is they'll take that animal and stuff it some place for a week or two until it gets nice and soft and they can tear it apart," Morse said.
That fits with what photographer Bobby Wummer told WTSP-TV. He said he assumed the smaller gator in Wednesday’s encounter was an old kill because it smelled.
"It was just exciting, just amazing to watch," he said.
Polk County officials have closed the trail near where the incidents occurred as a precaution, WTSP-TV reported. The trail will reopen after mating season.
Twitter users shared mixed reactions to the videos.
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