tags: snake, alligator, reptiles
A Burmese python swallows an alligator and then bursts open.
Image: BBC News.
An unusual struggle between a 6 foot (1.8 meter) alligator and a 13 foot (3.9 meter) python killed two of the deadliest predators in Florida's swamps. The alligator is native to the Florida swamps, while the python is native to Burma, and was probably was dumped into the swamp by its neglectful owner. Apparently, the Burmese python attempted to swallow the alligator whole but then its belly exploded. It is possible that the alligator might have clawed the python's stomach until it burst open.
When the dead reptiles were discovered by surprised rangers from the Everglades National Park, the alligator's tail was protruding from the python's burst midsection and the python's head was missing. This suggests that Burmese pythons might be able to challenge alligators' top position in the food chain in the Everglades.
"They were probably evenly matched in size. If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.
He added that there had been four known encounters between the two species in the past. In the other cases, either the alligator won or the battle was a draw.
Cited story.
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Do the natural ranges of these two reptiles overlap? Do the ranges of any similar large reptiles overlap? I am no expert, but isn't there usually only one top preditor? And typically that top preditor practices canabilism when they get overcrowded (i.e. are above carrying capacity)? Leaving essentially no space for an invading preditor?
If allagators hadn't been decimated and reduced well below carrying capacity, the niche they filled might not have been open enough for the Burmese python to get a foot hold.
Isn't it more likely that another gator or other predator attacked the python while it was sluggish and vulnerable after ingesting the first one?
If that were the case, I would expect to see partial digestion of the alligator, and greater consumption of the alligator and python, not just the head.
I'd consider this battle a draw too, since they're both dead.
Yes, but I think the python won on points.
Come to think of it, this is an interesting approach to biocontrol of an invasive species - suicide alligators.
Bob
This picture is a few years old. Took place off the appropriately named Alligator Alley.
daedalus2u: Actually, as written above, Burmese pythons would NEVER have ever met American alligators without human interference of some sort, in this case irresponsible owners releasing pet pythons into the wild.
There are numerous places in the tropics where large crocodilians and large snakes coexist; South America, Africa and South-east Asia all have giant snakes living alongisde some of the larger crocodilian species.
As for your idea that there is only one top predator, well... yes and no. Competitive exclusion happens only if two species have a very similar niche. The niche filled by giant constricting snakes is definitely very different from that filled by large crocodilians. They will compete for certain resources, of course, but there is enough leeway to enable both to survive alongside each other.
And AFAIK, American alligators have recovered very well from their supposedly decimated state, I doubt that pythons have managed to get a foothold because there aren't enough gators around.
Hai-Ren: Well, at least in Florida, gators have had boom-and-bust cycles, in which they've been alternately considered threatened, or overpoplulated. Having something else around that can argue with them might smooth that out a little. Of course, the pythons might be a nuisance in their own right....
The nat geo article has some more recent (2006 september) info, including some more speculation on the deaths of the animals.