Grisly video shows aftermath of tussle between alligator and Burmese python: 'It was missing the head'

At Everglades National Park, visitors watched as a hefty alligator wrestled with a Burmese python, thrashing the snake's body in the water before sinking its jaws back in, reported the Miami Herald. The scene unfolded near the Shark Valley Observation Tower and quickly drew a crowd.

News station WPLG Local 10 posted footage of the incident (as a warning, the visuals are a little gruesome):

Wildlife photographer Alison Joslyn said she noticed the movement on Aug. 8.

"The gator was at the edge of an airboat launch, shaking his head around and the movement caught my eye," she told the Miami Herald. "It seemed like he was periodically trying to eat it, with limited success, and then he would rest with it in his mouth."

Joslyn estimated the alligator to be around nine feet long, with the python measuring close to seven feet — minus its head. 

"Hard to say with the snake, as it was missing the head," she continued. "I suspect it was ripped off by the alligator a day earlier."

The spectacle may have shocked onlookers, but it also points to a serious environmental problem: the devastating effects of invasive species on an ecosystem. Invasive species outcompete natives for resources, damaging entire food webs and impacting biodiversity.

Burmese pythons, originally brought to Florida through the exotic pet trade, are now one of the state's most damaging invasive species. With no natural predators and a knack for survival in the Everglades, they've decimated populations of rabbits, raccoons, and other small mammals.

Alligators remain one of the few native animals capable of fighting back. 

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"We typically lose one or two adult tagged research pythons to alligator predation each year," Ian Bartoszek, a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, explained to the Miami Herald.

At the same time, pythons have been known to kill alligators, creating a high-stakes struggle between two top predators.

For now, the clash is a reminder of what's at stake when invasive species spread unchecked. Each python that ends up in a gator's jaws means one less threat to the Everglades' fragile web of life.

Joslyn has seen gators eating pythons on three occasions in the past two years. 

"I keep hoping that this is a behavior that the gators are learning and adopting," she said, per the Miami Herald. "That would be awesome! But it still seems quite rare unfortunately."

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