I didn’t know that pythons battled alligators and crocodiles this way. They are both monsters and when they do fight, it is to the death. They are a frightful sight. This python wrapped itself around the throat of an alligator in the Florida Everglades and worked at squeezing it to death so it could eat the beast. The alligator retaliated by getting the serpent’s tail in its jaws and clamping down. I don’t know who won. But a similar match in Australia recently had the python winning.
From the Daily Mail:
This is the incredible moment a python wraps itself round the neck of an alligator in a brutal deathmatch on the banks of the Florida Everglades.
The Burmese python was photographed trying to constrict the angry beast, not far from an asphalt road with people traveling down it.
An unnamed photographer caught the scene, which shows the two in the midst of battle at the Everglades National Park in Homestead.
The alligator can be seen trying to fight back, and has maneuvered the powerful serpent’s tail into its jaws, and appears to be clamping down.
At the same time, the snake has managed to loop itself around the beast’s thick abdomen and is trying its best to constrict the beast. It is not clear who has won the fight.
Pythons are not native to Florida, and were introduced by accident, but have been able to compete with other dominant predators and stay alive.
They are capable of killing alligators, but usually only younger ones which are easier to wrap their jaws around. It is not clear how the confrontation ended.
The showdown, in late October, came only a few days before another python and gator were caught at each other’s throats at a Florida golf course.
This isn’t the first gator there to be seen battling a python either. It seems to be happening more and more as they battle for food and dominance in the area. This is why pythons are not supposed to have been introduced here. They are dangerous and will take over a territory. People buy them as pets, can’t take care of them and dump them in the Everglades. This is the result. In this instance, it looks like the gator is winning, but that certainly isn’t always the case, especially with younger, smaller alligators. Personally, I don’t like snakes or alligators, but they live around people and both are known to snack on humans. They are vicious and deadly… if they killed each other off, it would be no great loss. Another day in the Everglades, another fight to the death. This time it was a Burmese python vs. an alligator.
Python in Australia crushes a crocodile: