The alligator, who is known as Godzilla, was recorded Thanksgiving morning with the massive python that was significantly larger than him.
A woman who gives tours in Florida’s Everglades National Park recorded a video of an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) swimming with a dead Burmese python (Python bivittatus) in its mouth. The alligator, who is known as Godzilla, was recorded Thanksgiving morning with the massive python that was significantly larger than him, who is about 10 to 12 feet in length.
Tour guide Kelly Alvarez began recording right after a child in the group she was touring began screaming that something was swimming in the water. She initially didn’t understand what the children were asking, but from the observation tower in which they were perched, Alvarez saw what the commotion was all about.
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“I thought it was a log floating on the surface of water or something like that,” Alvarez told USA Today. “Then I noticed the alligator moving it.” Alvarez then realized that Godzilla was swimming with a very large, very dead Burmese python. “I have seen many alligators eating pythons out here. I have never, ever, ever seen a python that large,” Alvarez told USA Today.
The Burmese python is an invasive species in Florida.
Alvarez said that the alligator was holding onto the snake in an effort to better consume it as it becomes easier to break down. She estimated the snake to be about 20 feet in length, based on the size of Godzilla, who is about 10 to 12 feet in length.
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The American alligator is one of the few predators that can capture, kill and eat an adult Burmese python. They can grow to 12 to 15 feet in length and can exceed 500 kg (1,100) in weight. While the species was listed as Endangered in 1973 under the Endangered Species Act, conservation efforts that included captive breeding of the species has enabled it to be removed from Endangered status in 1987. The Burmese python is one of the largest snake species in the world, capable of exceeding 20 feet in length. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in its native Southeast Asia but is an invasive species in Florida. The largest Burmese python caught in Florida measured 19 feet in length. It was captured in 2023 in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve. As adults, only the American alligator poses a threat to this species in Florida. As hatchlings and juveniles, they are preyed upon by other species, including the cottonmouth snake (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti), the Gulf Coast indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), and the bobcat (Lynx rufus).
