Florida woman on inflatable paddle-board films giant alligator killing and eating another gator
A Florida woman got frighteningly close up to a moment of alligator cannibalism as she caught one gator eating another in the swamps of a state park.
Tammy Shaw posted the video to Alligators of Florida, a Facebook group, on August 10 after witnessing the incident on August 4.
The group says it’s ‘a place to post your photos of alligators for all to enjoy, share, and comment on’.
The video, which she captioned ‘Gator eating gator, Silver Springs’ showed one alligator slapping another against the water before ripping it into pieces to eat while she recorded from a nearby paddleboard.
It then shows the predator gator rise from the water and begin to toss around the prey before fully chowing down.
A Florida woman got frighteningly close up to a moment of alligator cannibalism as she caught one gator eating another in the swamps of a state park
Tammy Shaw posted the video to Alligators of Florida , a Facebook group, on August 10 after witnessing the incident on August 4
The video, which she captioned ‘Gator eating gator, Silver Springs’ showed one alligator slapping another against the water before ripping it into pieces to eat while she recorded from a nearby paddleboard
It then shows the predator gator rise from the water and begin to toss around the prey before fully chowing down
Shaw told Yahoo News she was on an inflatable paddleboard about 11 feet in size, one that the attacking gator may have been even larger than.
Shaw summed it up: ‘Kind of intense, but super cool to witness’.
She added that the gator being eaten was about five to seven feet long and was certainly smaller.
According to educational site Animal Club, cannibalism among gators is not uncommon, especially between larger and smaller members of the species as a matter of survivalism.
Live Science suggested that somewhere between six and seven percent of baby alligators are killed for food by other gators.
Shaw said that she had to eventually stop filming due to how close she was to the gator after he’d had his meal.
The gator cannibalism that was captured on video by Tammy Shaw took place in Silver Springs State Park in Florida
Silver Springs State Park offers a clear view of potential gator activity, as it often employs glass-bottom boats for tourists
One of the members of the Facebook group have given the gator the name ‘Big Head Fred’.
Another joked that it was an example of ‘gator MMA’ and agreed that Shaw was brave to venture out into their habitat.
Alligators are native to every one of Florida’s 67 counties and the state says they are found anywhere you can see standing water.
Silver Springs State Park offers a clear view of potential gator activity, as it often employs glass-bottom boats for tourists.
