A Florida alligator was found inside the stomach of a Burmese python. The process of removing the gator from the snake was also caught on video, which went viral on TikTok over the past week.
Video: Burmese Python Eats Alligator
A short TikTok video post of geoscientist and wildlife biologist Rosie Moore over a week ago, going viral and receiving hundreds of reactions and dozens of shares.
The post has a caption saying that an 18-foot Burmese python consumed a 5-foot alligator in Florida.
@rosiekmoore 18ft Burmese Python that consumed a 5ft alligator in Florida ♬ Yummy - Justin Bieber
In the 36-second clip, it can be seen that the giant python's stomach resembles the shape of an alligator inside it.
The people in the video then took out the alligator by cutting the insides of the snake, which they were able to retrieve by euthanizing it on site after being found at the Everglades National Park.
Also Read: Florida Burmese Python Population Runs a Hundred Thousand in the Everglades
What are Burmese Pythons?
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Burmese pythons are large constrictors that can grow as large as 20 feet or more in length even if those caught in Florida mostly range between 6 feet and 10 feet long.
As far as we know, all adults are larger than almost all native snakes and some other animals, which are prey to the giant reptile.
The FWC highlights these three distinguishing characteristics of Burmese pythons:
- dark brown spots are irregularly marked on a tan background
- spots fit together similar to a puzzle or giraffe pattern
- dark sections above and below the head, as well as behind the eye
Given their large size, the predatory python snakes use their bodies to conduct constriction, a method used not only by Burmese pythons but also by other snake species to kill or disable their prey.
Most non-venomous snakes use such method.
Can Burmese Pythons Beat Alligators?
In recent years, there have been debates on whether or not a Burmese python can take down an alligator.
One such debate ensued back in 2019 in a forum thread in Quora, a social question-and-answer website.
In the discussion, dozens of Quora users expressed their opposing views on the two reptilian animals.
Some commentators on the Quora thread argued that the age and size of the reptiles are important factors to achieve victory, while others pointed the element of surprise of "who strikes first" is a game-changing factor.
In 2012, the American magazine The Atlantic cited a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that the increase of Burmese python population in Florida has been linked to a significant decline of several native mammals since 2003.
With this, the magazine called the deadly predators as "alligator-eating pythons" that are invading Florida.
In particular, experts reportedly state that the giant snakes are devastating the Everglade ecosystem in the Sunshine State, as cited by The Atlantic, which mentioned that the legless reptile can eat almost anything, even alligators.
Burmese pythons were believed to have been introduced in Florida, often through shipping containers from Asia or as exotic pets, back in the 1970s and 1980s.
They were then released into the wild after growing too large to handle by their owners.
Wildlife experts have remarked that the said snake species have no natural enemies in their new habitat in state.
Related Article: Florida's Largest Burmese Python at 18 Feet, 200 Pounds Discovered in the Everglades
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