As if alligators weren’t already frightening enough, with their creepy scales, vicious teeth, and incredibly powerful jaws, now we can add cannibalism to the list of terrifying alligator traits.
Caught on video down in Lakeland, Florida, a massive alligator just casually strolls out of a wooded area with another, smaller alligator in his mouth.
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The little gator hangs limp and lifeless, but if there was any question that he’s actually dead, the larger gator gives him a few shakes just to make sure.
Reportedly, the person who filmed the clip said, “Sometimes the larger alligators will eat the smaller ones either because they are hungry or territorial.”
It’s certainly chilling, to say the least.
Alligators do maintain a fairly basic diet as they grow, and researchers believe they really only resort to cannibalism if they’re starving and there’s not a tasty deer or Labrador around.
One interesting fact about alligators is that they do not immediately regard humans as prey, unlike large crocodiles who have been known to attack humans solely for the purpose of eating them.
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If they feel like their territory is being encroached upon, they will attack, but other than that they normally leave people alone.
However, they will eat a house pet without hesitation, and for that reason, they get labeled as a “nuisance” animal in most all of Florida, as well as the southern parts of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi.
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Many of them that get nabbed by animal control are put down, but some of them are lucky enough to be “adopted” by alligator farms where they can live out their days being fed raw meat three times a day and laying around in the sun. Alligator jail, if you will, doesn’t sound all that bad.
[H/T: Daily Star]
