An alligator and a giant phyton's unlikely encounter was captured in a video that has gone viral on social media. Animals Energy posted the video on Instagram on Wednesday, and it has already earned over 10,000 likes and 4,500 views.
The video graphic asks on Instagram: "Can a crocodile bite the python into two?"
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Alligator Tries To Break Python Into Two
The python walks all over the alligator's body and wraps itself around it several times, attempting to bite each time. Still, the alligator tries to break the python apart.
Pythons have been known to wrap themselves around their prey and crush them, tightening the grip when the victim exhales.
Both the alligator and the python belong to the same reptile family, and they appear unwilling to give up in the video, ending in horrific face-to-face combat.
When the alligator is unable to kill the python and bite it into two pieces after some time, it abandons it.
Users were enthralled by the action and left comments on the page.
"Looks like python win [the] last frame look how the eye of [the] gator is limp when snake rubs it snake won choked him out," one user commented per NDTV.
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"Whoever dies is a blessing," another one commented.
Meanwhile, in Martin County, Florida, a man saved a four-foot-long alligator from a python in the Everglades.
"Here's the smallest of three gators (4ft) I've rescued from being python food ... proud to say all three gators survived to see another day in the swamp. Not on my watch son," the man said on his Instagram account.
Alligator vs. Phyton: Who Would Win Between The Two
Alligators and phytons are both reptiles. Phytons are longer than alligators, but the latter weighs more. Gators are also quicker than phytons on land in the water.
Phytons crush their prey to death, while alligators use their teeth to break bones and dismember their prey.
According to AZ Animals, the alligator would usually win the battle against a phyton in most cases, but this is when the alligator is fully grown. A phyton has to be much longer and stronger than an alligator to beat it.
Usually, their encounter happens in the water. Alligators love it when something creeps into the water for an ambush. It usually attacks the phyton by clamping it down using its teeth. The phyton would retaliate, bite and coil the gator. However, the alligator would bite and twirl, preventing the phyton's attempt at coiling around it.
Florida-resident Rich Kruger filmed another encounter between a 10-foot phyton and an adult alligator. The latter came out victorious and defeated the enormous snake capable of swallowing humans whole.
The alligator's size is a significant factor because phytons can easily beat small alligators.
How Often Do Phytons And Alligators Fight?
In 2005, a 13-foot-long Burmese phyton was photographed with a ruptured stomach in the Florida Everglades. A six-foot alligator protruded out from its body. Apparently, the phyton attempted to swallow the alligator before its stomach burst resulting in the death of both animals, Mongabay reported.
In 2014, an olive phyton was photographed by Martin Muller, killing and eating a freshwater crocodile at a lake near Mount Isa. The entire process took five hours.
Phytons are ambitious predators and they dined on various prey, including deer, impalas, porcupines, pigeons, goats, other pythons and even humans, Live Science reported.
"It's common for them to eat pretty much anything if they can fit it in their mouth," GG Wildlife Rescue Inc.'s owner, Michelle Jones, told the Daily Mail Australia.
Run-ins between phytons and alligators are not uncommon in south Florida as the invasive Burmese phyton population has continued to explode, ABC 15 reported.
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