The Sighting of a Lifetime

nokturnelle · 05-25-12, 11:41 AM

My title is no exaggeration, either. I live in southeast Louisiana, about 45 minutes south of New Orleans. I was walking with friends through the national park near my house, the Barataria Preserve. About an hour into walking, we came across the sight of this 8-9 foot (Once again, no exaggeration. And yes, I know that alligators get way larger than that but it's very rare to see any in the wild over seven feet, and even those are uncommon.) alligator with its jaws over the head of a 5-6 footer.

Everyone at first believed that the big one was eating the smaller one. However, with the abundance of nutria and other such prey out there, it doesn't seem likely. I've searched many a database on alligator cannibalism and have only found articles on large alligators eating babies and yearlings for population control.

So my idea is that this is a huge male, defending his territory from another sexually-mature male. It is, after all, breeding season for the gators right now.

So what do you guys think?

And yeah, I got really close because the walkway was right there and I'm an idiot with a deathwish.

alessia55 · 05-25-12, 12:32 PM

Not sure what's going on behaviorally since I know next to nothing about alligators... but I love the last pic... I love how clearly you can see the tail... awesome! We have gators here in FL but I don't ever go nearly that close to them ever ever ever.

Caylan · 05-25-12, 12:45 PM

Thats very cool to see, I would have gotten just as close if not closer

Looks to me like the larger gator might just be nipping the neck of what could possibly be a female gator... still the size factor alone is cool to see, let alone the behavior along with with it!

nokturnelle · 05-25-12, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caylan

Thats very cool to see, I would have gotten just as close if not closer

Looks to me like the larger gator might just be nipping the neck of what could possibly be a female gator... still the size factor alone is cool to see, let alone the behavior along with with it!

Oh this was no neck nipping. There was blood along with bones crunching...I wince when I think about it...

**Aaron_S** · 05-25-12, 05:04 PM

It could be a big girl who didn't like the advance of the young male too.

I've seen videos of male/females being introduced and the female not liking the male and becoming violent.

Caylan · 05-25-12, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nokturnelle

Oh this was no neck nipping. There was blood along with bones crunching...I wince when I think about it...

Oh bummer, poor little gator....

shaunyboy · 05-25-12, 10:41 PM

it must be totally AMAZING,to go for a walk and be able to see,gators like that

to be that close to gators,must have got your heart racing,i know my heart would have been pumping,at the thought of the power,these animals posses

great pictures

thanks for sharing

cheers shaun

Trent · 05-25-12, 11:12 PM

Very cool!!

marvelfreak · 05-27-12, 01:06 PM

What ever is going on is anybodies guess. Sweet pictures though and thanks for sharing.

brandonh · 05-29-12, 03:20 PM

not sure but that be my guess is defending from other males , btw you got some amazing shots gratz

tinysdad · 06-11-12, 09:54 AM

big gators are cannibalistic

*Don't Mind Me* · 06-17-12, 08:11 PM

Wow, You got really close. It seems like a territory/mate induced fight to me. Thanks for posting, gators are awesome creatures.